


When Life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade

by sky_fish



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Amnesia, Childhood Friends, Drama, Dreams, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-07 14:45:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 73,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13437042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sky_fish/pseuds/sky_fish
Summary: As teenage boys the two of them promised to open up a restaurant when they are grown up, together. Years later, their ways have long split and only one of them still remembers their promise. But then, they unexpectedly meet again. Will there be a chance to revive their joint dream?This is a story about lost and found dreams, in which Aiba generally accepts fate but challenges it when needed, Nino gives his best to protect his best friend while having to deal with his new admirer, Sho, Jun is a gloomy but adventurous chef who tries to get on terms with his life, and Ohno figuratively connects the loose dots with his paint brush.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Exchange fic for yun_miyake <3\. It turned out longer than expected and I have to admit I struggled a bit because of that, especially since it was due before Christmas, but I'm proud I managed to pull it through. This story is kind of slow burn but I put a lot of thoughts and love into the development of the plot and the characters, so I hope you will find it worthy to stick around until the very cheesy ending ;)  
> Big big shout outs to my wonderful betas! KittyKaty - for keeping me motivated, pushing me when I felt stuck, finding my stupid typos, and all your lovely support in all forms and of course Jtaytt for the awesome quick beta reading. You have no idea how grateful I am, this would not have been possible without you guys, thank you so much

_It was the summer holidays and they were just teenagers, but even years later, Aiba still remembered that day like it was yesterday. It was a wonderful, hot summer day, the cicadas were spreading their symphony over the streets, the familiar noise carried by the wind until it reached even the tiniest, hidden corner of their district. The red Japanese lanterns, which were hung between the front balconies of the houses lining the streets, and decorating the beautiful bridges spread over the river, were riding on a warm summer breeze as they lit up as soon as the sun started to set. The smell of street food was everywhere, a hint of salty fried noodles coming from one corner, the sweet scent of cotton candy and chocolate glazed fruits from the other._

_Aiba and his friends had been having fun for the whole day, happy that they didn’t have to attend school for the next couple of weeks, and no homework to do, at least not for today. They were playing games, wetting their colourful kimonos while attempting to catch goldfish, and eating delicious food. Aiba was convinced that this could be one of the best days of his life, until evening came and the darkness spread, and until he finally had to accept the truth he was trying to avoid for the past few hours._

_Because this was the day, on which he would have to part ways with the one he liked for so long now._

_Of course, Aiba had never told that boy, who was one of his best friends, that he was his first love. In fact, he only just realized it by himself a few weeks ago when he learned that his friend would be moving town in the middle of the school year. The realization that they wouldn't be able to go to school together each and every morning, hang out together with their friends, graduate from the same school, that they would not be able to finish growing up together, was knocking at the door stronger and stronger with each passing day, until the last evening together with his friend in this town arrived._

_It was breaking Aiba's heart, and maybe, if he wouldn't be trying to be the happy guy, he was known to be, Aiba would be crying by now, as he stood right next to his friend, watching over the calm flowing river underneath their favourite bridge. However, he wanted to send his friend off with a smile. With a smile, and a promise. A promise, that would make sure they wouldn't let go of their dream._

_The tiny red bridge had always been something special. It was not only famous for its beautiful view over the river that was finding its way through town in the form of a blue silent snake, but it was also known as a place for promises. Usually, it would be filled with couples and groups of friends, but on this evening, Aiba and his friend were lucky, being alone here, while everyone else was gathering downstream where the river would flow into the bay of the city, anticipating the biggest event of the day to which the whole district had been looking forward to for the past few weeks._

_Even if Aiba's friend had wanted to go down there with the others, Aiba had somehow managed to persuade him to come with him. The view from the bridge to the bay wasn't phenomenal from here, but at least, they would be alone and for him to carry out his plan, Aiba needed to be alone with his friend. He had taken the boy's hand, his heart beating fast, and had guided him here to this happy place, even if this time, for Aiba, it was a place touched by a hint of sadness, as it was probably the last time in a long while that they would be able to come here together._

_The two boys had been growing up in the same neighbourhood for years, they shared the same circle of friends, the same teachers at school, the same memories of their home town, all the fun things they had experienced, and all the beautiful places they had discovered. This bridge was only one of countless of such places, and Aiba was really hoping that the memory that would be added to their collection today would be a good one too, despite the sad occasion._

_Aiba took a last deep breath, welcoming the sweetness of the night's smell, He collected all his courage, and once he was ready, he turned around to his friend, and his smile was as bright and positive as he was able to produce right now._

_"Promise, you'll come back one day," Aiba demanded, trying his best to make his voice sound as normal and stable as possible, even if deep inside he felt like crying._

_"I promise," the other boy said, smiling back at him._

_For a moment, Aiba really wondered, if his friend would miss him just nearly as much as he would miss his friend._

_"And when you're back we will keep our promise and open a restaurant together," he then added, reaching out the pinkie of his right hand, ready to seal their promise._

_His friend smiled excited and hooked his own finger with Aiba's, completing their pinkie promise. They held onto each other’s fingers just for a little longer as needed before they broke apart again, chuckling._

_"I can't wait!" the younger boy said and Aiba smiled, overly happy._

_As the only child of a couple owning a family izakaya, the most delicious small traditional Japanese restaurant in town, just a few streets away, he held pride in his parents' job and his position as their heir. Secretly, though, his dream was to find a new place together with this ambitious boy in front of him, and when his friend agreed to join his plan a while ago, it was one of the best days of Aiba's young teenage life, so far._

_"Until then, we'll stay in contact, right?" the boy continued, the small lump in his throat starting to get bigger and his heart beating faster._

_He swallowed, fisting his hand when he was about to reach out to his friend again to tug on his kimono's sleeve, but he didn't. He was scared of not being able to let go._

_His friend nodded heavily._

_"I'll text you every day, we can call each other or meet during holidays, and keep each other updated. It will be as if I'm not even gone, you'll see."_

_"Still, it will be different," Aiba said. "You'll be in a new place, you'll make new friends and I will root for you, but promise me you won't forget me, no matter what happens."_

_"I could never forget you, Aiba-chan," the boy replied with a warm smile. "No matter what happens."_

_There was the loud noise of the first exploding firework and when Aiba's friend turned his head to watch the colourful burst of sparkles in the darkening evening sky, the light falling onto the boy's fair face was exposing a few small tears forming in the corner of his eye._

_Aiba's heart constricted and it was then, when he could not hold back any longer. He didn't know if his friend beared the exact same feelings as him, but he was sure that he wanted to make him stop crying, and to show him how serious he was about their promise. He could no longer pay attention to the tiny, decreasing voice of reason in his head that had been holding him back from this last step, which actually was not part of Aiba's plan, but right now, he couldn't care less. His almost bursting heart was taking over the control of his body._

_He leaned forward, his hands finding support on his friend's shoulder, who was still a few inches shorter than him, and when the slightly confused boy turned his head again to send Aiba a questioning look, Aiba erased the remaining little distance between them._

_Inexperienced and determined at the same time, Aiba placed his slightly trembling lips on top of his friend's. It was a short and innocent kiss, and it tasted a bit of chocolate, just like the chocolate glazed fruits the two boys shared just about half an hour ago. It was Aiba's first kiss ever, not counting the ones he secretly practised with a plush toy, so he had no idea if it was good or not, and he was unbelievably nervous about how his friend would react._

_Fortunately, nothing bad happened. The boy didn't get pushed away, and even if the kiss did not deepen or anything, like those in Hollywood movies that Aiba and his friends found so cheesy, his friend did not seem averse to the gesture in any way. He even lifted his hand to shyly touch Aiba's elbow, holding on to it for support, his hand slightly shaking._

_Another firework exploded in the distance, and another one, and when the two boys parted lips, Aiba was delighted to see that his friend wasn't crying anymore. Aiba smiled, slightly embarrassed but happy, as he scratched the back of his neck, and luckily his friend shyly mirrored the gesture._

_Their hands found each other soon after, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Aiba carefully laced their fingers together and just like this, they were holding hands while watching the rest of the firework performance, which spread across the sky before them, as if to celebrate their promise with them._

_Aiba didn't know how the next day would look like. He didn't know how much time would pass before he would have the chance to meet his friend again. To maybe even kiss him, just once more, if he wanted, that was. Maybe, they wouldn't talk about what happened, ever again, and pretend that nothing happened, but Aiba decided to hold onto the newly sprouting hope in his heart, regarding their promise, and maybe even regarding this new, exciting thing developing between them, even if it might last only for this night._

_No matter how long it would take them to get to this same point again, their dreams and hearts combined, at this very moment, Aiba decided to wait for it, to wait for him, as long as necessary._

\- - + - -

TBC


	2. Chapter 1

When Aiba woke up to the sound of his favourite song, he took in a deep breath.

His eyes were still closed, but he could sense the daylight flooding the room, so he tried to squint his eyes and bring back the darkness, tried to move back in thoughts and time, just to stay a little longer where he had just been. Of course, it didn't work.

He sighed.

It wasn't a frustrated sigh, though. It was rather a sigh filled with nostalgia, this weird mix of sadness and happiness that used to overwhelm someone when thinking about specific happenings from the past. Aiba always felt it, when he dreamed of _him_. He regretted just for a tiny split second not being able to hold onto that particular moment for a little longer. He had to accept it, and he would. He would be able to visit that place in his mind again, sooner or later, for sure. Still, it made Aiba's heart cringe a little bit, but it also made him smile and feel warm, reaching out to that thin but still existing sprout of hope deep within his heart, making sure that he would return to this moment, over and over. Even if it was just a memory, it was precious to him.

Finally, the young man snapped open his eyes. He reached for his cell phone to switch off the alarm clock he had set to start the new day. He didn't need to hit the snooze bottom, it was enough for him to roll himself around one time in his bed, to stretch his tired limbs and release a loud yawn to become awake. Soon, he could feel the energy return to his body, turning him into a functional human being, who would make sure to make the best out of the upcoming day.

Just a few minutes later, Aiba was dressed in a pair of comfy jeans and a T-shirt, and brushing his teeth with a huge amount of foam covering his mouth, while he was critically inspecting the messy brown mob of bed hair standing on end on top of his head. He took his small comb and straighten it a little bit, just to make it look a bit neater.

Better, he thought, grinning at his mirror image, just to realize how the foamed-up toothpaste started running down his chin. He quickly jerked forward to make sure not to spill anything onto the floor, and hurried to finish up so he could go downstairs.

He carefully peaked into the half-opened room at the end of the corridor to see that his parents were still sleeping (snoring, in case of his father), probably for another hour or two, until Aiba would have finished preparations for a new day in their restaurant. As the son of the owners and the heir of their izakaya, ever since graduating from high school, the young man had taken over the task of setting everything up in the morning, making sure the restaurant was cleaned and the kitchen equipped with fresh supplies to serve all their customers throughout the day and night.

The man remembered his parents doing this task for a long time, getting up early, and going to bed late at night, while taking care of their child and the restaurant, and so, Aiba was happy and proud to be able to give something back to his parents, grateful for their hard work. His father still used to scold him for not chopping the vegetables and fish for their famous sushi in perfect shape, and his mother had to show him how to fold the table napkins in her preferred way, over and over, but Aiba knew that deep inside his parents were as happy to share their job with him, as he was to share it with them. He was doing his best to learn from their experience and upgrade his own skills accordingly, every day just a little bit more so that one day, he would be able to take over his parent's restaurant.

As soon as Aiba went downstairs into the restaurant, he was greeted by the usual view. The silent, empty izakaya was decorated with just a small amount of simple details and in traditional style. The bar was dark and cosy at this hour, with just a few rays of the early sunlight falling through the windows at the front of the restaurant, warming the place. It was so different from later in the day, appearing to be so much more spacious than when it was crowded with people, and Aiba had to admit, that even if he loved it when the place was loud and lively, he also enjoyed the morning silence.

Today though, the picture was painted a bit differently, as apparently, Aiba's best friend and house mate, Nino, was already up and awake, busy wiping the table surfaces and setting them up with containers filled with new chopsticks and freshly washed spoons. It was an unusual sight. It wasn't uncommon for the young man to help the Aibas out in the restaurant, but it was rather unlikely for him to get up earlier than – Nino's words – "Early Bird Aiba Masaki".

For Nino, it was much more common to work through the nights, either on papers or movie studies for his college projects, and only getting up between 9 and 11 am, with huge dark circles around his eyes, and just in time to grab a slice of toast to gulp down while running to catch the train to his campus.

But not today, apparently.

"Good morning," Nino said, just when Aiba wanted to open his mouth to greet his friend.

"Good morning," the other man returned the greeting with a soft smile as he came closer. "Why are you up so early? You don't need to do this, you know?" Aiba pointed at the wooden containers the young man was carrying.

"I couldn't sleep, my brain was driving me crazy because of the assignment I need to finish, so I decided I need a break…," Nino replied, slightly rolling his eyes to indicate his stress level.

College must be hard, Aiba assumed.

"Then why are you setting up the tables and not taking a proper break?" the young man smiled, reaching out to take one of the containers from his friend in order to give him a hand.

Nino's lips formed a warm smile. "It's the least I can do for you and your family."

Aiba giggled, ruffling his hand lovingly through the uncombed black mob of Nino's hair.

"You know, my parents see _you_ like their own son too, not like someone who rents a room at their place and has to work his ass off early in the morning to make up for it. That last part is _my_ job, actually."

"I know, I know," Nino chuckled, trying to tame his hair a little with one hand. "Then, let me act like a good son and help out when I can."

"Sure, I appreciate your help, thanks," Aiba smiled softly.

It has been a few years now, since Nino moved into the Aiba's place, who indeed welcomed him like a family member, but sometimes the younger man still acted like a stranger in this house.

Aiba could understand where this was coming from. Nino grew up in an orphanage and had been there since a young age with nothing but the memory of not being wanted by his parents anymore. Since then, Nino had developed the idea that he was a burden, but for Aiba, he had always been one of the most important people in his life. He had become like a little brother to him and Aiba had never ever seen him as a burden. The two young men grew up together ever since they met on the first day at school. They played together, took care of each other and protected each other from bullies, if needed. Their bond had grown stronger over the years. So much that it was just natural for Aiba to ask his parents to let Nino live with them the moment they graduated from high school together.

At first, Nino was hesitated to accept his best friend's invitation, but in the end, at the age of almost eighteen, he had to consider leaving the orphanage as soon as possible, in order to make space for younger children who needed the place more urgently than him. He had nowhere to go and nothing to lose, so in the end, he accepted the Aiba family's kind offer, and moved into their place, right into the spare bedroom next to Aiba's. Having nothing more to offer than his friendship, Nino promised to work in the izakaya to earn his keep, but the Aibas were much more interested in supporting Nino's dream of going to film school. When he managed to get a scholarship at a specialized college nearby, Aiba and his parents were as proud of Nino as if he was a real member of their family. Still, he tried to help in the izakaya as often as possible, doing chores in the kitchen or serving guests during the busy evening hours. And since he was quite good at it, he had grown into an irreplaceable part, not only in the Aiba family, but also in the restaurant crew.

Sometimes, Aiba thought, Nino felt guilty for leaving most work to him and his parents, especially since he started attending college, but in his opinion, Nino earned every chance he had, by studying extra hard to get the best grades in class and even getting a scholarship to go to film school and fulfil his dream. Probably, Aiba should even use Nino as an example for his own case and not give up following his childhood dream of opening his own restaurant one day. However, things had changed, Aiba thought when the memories of his dream last night rolled over him once more. There was the responsibility he held towards his family and their own restaurant. He was supposed to become his parents' successor after all, there was no place for silly childhood dreams, and he was only being realistic here. Still, it wasn't a crime to remember the nice feelings of having such dreams, and of making promises, right?

When Nino nudged his friend in the side and Aiba turned to him, pulled out of his thoughts, he could see his friend pulling one corner of his lips into a smile. It looked a bit weird though, a bit sad, honestly.

"Did you dream of _him_ again?" Nino asked compassionately, lifting his eyebrows at his friend.

"How can you tell?" Aiba asked, blushing a little. He wasn't surprised by his friend's reaction, but still amazed how quick he was with catching the situation. They probably knew each other too well already.

"Your smile," Nino just replied, turning his head to continue his task from before on the next table in reach.

"I'm always smiling in the morning, because you never know what good things will happen, if you face life with a smile," Aiba grinned, pointing his index fingers at his own cheeks and showing his white teeth as if to prove his point.

"I know but… it's a special smile," the other man insisted.

Honestly, Aiba had not even noticed that he had been smiling differently from usual, but he didn't see the point in denying the truth any longer. He shrugged, allowing his mouth to find back its former smiling shape, and leaned back against the bar in a comfortable position that allowed him to wallow a little longer in his favourite memories.

"Well, I did."

Nino hummed, pushing a wooden container a little further back on the table in front of him to place it perfectly in the middle.

"You miss him, don't you?" the young man then added.

"Of course. Every day," Aiba replied quickly, before he realized what he was actually answering. He cleared his throat. "He was part of the clique," he continued, trying to sound nonchalant. "You miss him too, don't you?"

"Probably not as much as you do...," his friend replied with a sigh – a frustrated sigh – before he looked at Aiba again, his eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of a sorrowful and slightly pissed off expression. "He should call sometimes, at least. Or text. Or just give a sign that he's still alive, you know?"

"It's not like he's obliged to," the other man answered, even if he knew that Nino only meant well. They did have this discussion multiple times already, and he knew what to expect.

"But you are friends. We're all friends. Still, for years – nothing from his side," the younger man started his usual rambling.

"We shouldn't take it personal," Aiba repeated what he used to say in this situation. Nino was right, but Aiba had learned to deal with it. There’s no point whining over spilled milk. "He must be busy. I'm sure he's working hard. And probably busy with friends… new friends. You know how it works when people move, and it's been years. It can't be helped."

"It feels wrong, though," Nino said. "And I swear, if he ever has the guts to come back, I'll read him the riot act!"

Aiba just chuckled, deciding to accept Nino's ramble as his way to show Aiba his support in this matter, by siding with him and speaking what Aiba didn't even want to think. For Nino, due to his own traumatic experience as a child, being left behind by a beloved person, or being let down was at the top of his list of things that people should never do to each other. Even if it was technically not their childhood friend's fault that he had to move away, Aiba could understand Nino's bitterness about the lost friendship, especially, since he knew exactly, how much it had meant to Aiba back then. With a gesture filled of brotherly love, Aiba messed up the young man's hair once more, just to smile at Nino's cute pout that followed, before he tried fixing it again.

They finished setting up the tables before Aiba asked Nino to accompany him to go and pick up his daily order of fresh vegetables, fish and meat from the nearby morning market. Usually, he would take care of this task just by himself, or having stuff that was too heavy to bring back to the restaurant alone be delivered or carried by some boys from the neighbourhood, who were grateful for some small extra pocket money. However, it was always more fun to explore the market together with a friend, so Aiba was really happy when Nino agreed to accompany him.

The two men stepped outside onto the streets, and wrapped their thin jackets around them as a shield to protect them from the crisp air. The soft jingle of the entrance door's bell was resonating in their ears, before it slowly faded and got replaced by the noises of the awakening surroundings, welcoming them. The tradespeople from the shops in the neighbourhood were slowly but surely getting up one after another to start opening their doors, taking out garbage, redecorating their shop windows and preparing their shops for their first customers. 

A green small van pulled closer, using the early hours which actually allowed vehicles to enter the pedestrian zone for delivery purpose, and stopped right in front the shop next to the izakaya. Aiba and Nino waved their hands at the young woman sitting behind the steering wheel – their old friend Yuriko, daughter and successor of the flower shop next door.

"Good morning, guys!" the cheerful young woman greeted her friends as she climbed out of the car. "How rare to see you going out together so early in the morning."

This was obviously directed to Nino, but the man didn't mind and just flashed her a smile before she turned to open the back of the van to unload tall buckets filled with bunches of colourful fresh flowers that she placed in front of her shop's window.

"Those sunflowers look amazing!" Aiba said, nodding at the bright yellow flowers. "Right, Nino?"

Yuriko flashed him a wide smile.

"I'll bring some over to the izakaya before I open up," she promised and Aiba beamed, nodding gratefully.

When another man entered the scene through the front door of the flower shop, nodding at Aiba and Nino, who returned the greeting, the young woman stood up straight. She took a deep breath and sent a squinted look at the newcomer. His hair looked still disheveled from sleep and his apron, which was part of the flower shop's uniform, was actually put on inside out as the seams of the green fabric indicated, if someone looked closely.

"You're up late, sleepyhead," the woman scolded the man. "I had to go and get all these flowers by myself... Seriously, look at you, Toma, when will you learn to get up early in the morning?" she continued complaining, but her hands were already busy with fixing the man's apron with gestures speaking of care and affection.

"I know, Darling, I'm sorry," the man responded in a soft voice while letting her proceed to try and fix the mess of his hair, too. In the end, the sleepy smile on his lips was seemingly enchanting enough for Yuriko to give up being annoyed by the "late riser", and she even smiled back, when he added, "I made breakfast."

"Thank you, Toma," the woman said appreciating, knowing how lucky she actually was to have such a caring husband.

The two of them were newly-weds for just a couple of months, and only a few weeks before their wedding, Toma moved into Yuriko and her parents' place to enter the family business and support his chosen one not only in her private life but also with her job. They were supposed to take over the shop together, eventually, however, the man still had to get used to working at such early hours. Toma exchanged a short nod with Nino, who understood this kind of pain very well, before starting to help his wife by taking the flower buckets into the shop.

"Oh, by the way," Yuriko said, as Aiba was about to say good bye and continue his way to the market, "Did you see that the new restaurant at the other end of the street is supposed to open up really soon? When driving by I just saw someone hanging up a poster with the date of the opening on the front door... I already forgot the exact date, but it must be within the next few days."

"Oh, really?" Aiba asked, curiously. "It's finally time..."

"They surely couldn’t find a better place to open their restaurant, could they?" Nino dropped sarcastically from the side, crossing his arms.

"Don't be like that, Nino," his friend immediately cut in.

"Like what?" the other man arched an eyebrow.

Aiba just mirrored the gesture. Nino knew exactly what he meant. He wasn't stupid. The people from the new restaurant surely were nice people and hardworking, just like Aiba's family and Nino and it couldn't be helped when new shops or restaurants opened in this area from time to time.

Nino shrugged, hinting a roll of his eyes. "Sorry, I wished I was as optimistic as you about this whole thing, but I'm just being realistic. We don't need two restaurants so close to each other. They will just steal our guests!"

"Those guests who truly love your restaurant – including me and Toma, by the way - will continue coming to the izakaya, right, Aiba-chan?" Yuriko intervened.

"And it will be a friendly co-existence, so there's no need to worry, you'll see," Aiba continued, nodding heavily.

"We'll see," Nino added, skeptically.

The two men finally bid farewell, and continued strolling down the street, Nino in a slightly grumpy mood, while Aiba was simply being curious, speeding up his steps involuntarily. In fact, he couldn't wait to check out the poster of the new restaurant, as well as their progress. The last time he checked, the shop windows were still covered with sticky paper all over from the inside, to prevent curious people – like himself, probably – from peeking through.

When they finally reached the spot – it was located right at the edge of two crossing streets in the centre of the pedestrian zone, admittedly a very well-frequented spot and a smart position to choose – there was indeed a colourful poster hanging up at the entrance door, not to be overlooked.

It showed the name of the restaurant on top - "Wagamama Kitchen", Aiba could almost hear Nino biting his lips not to say anything disrespectful about the, well, funny name – on a white background with thick red and purple brushstrokes of paint. In the middle of the poster, there was the stunning image of a single piece of nigiri sushi covered with a piece of avocado and tuna as well as some black sesame seeds sprinkled on top, the whole topping forming the shape of a slice of watermelon.

Underneath, it was written _"We are opening on Friday, come and taste our uniqueness!"_.

" _Watermelon_ ," Nino whispered in disbelief, his arms crossing in front of his chest, while he shook his head slightly. "That's _sushi_ , for god's sake, why would you make it look like watermelon?" 

"It's indeed _unique_ , you have to admit," Aiba simply replied instead of hopping onto the wave of negative vibes Nino was emitting.

In fact, Nino was not the only one being critical about the new restaurant and it didn't even have to do anything with fruit-shaped sushi or things like that. While he and Aiba's parents were fearing the new restaurant as a threat (Aiba's father more than his mother, though), Aiba was actually excited about what was to come. As always, when something new happened in their area. For him, it was interesting to meet new people, they might even make new friends with the owner of the restaurant, and most likely, even more people would be drawn to their shopping district by the new attraction, which would eventually fill up the streets with new life and maybe even introduce their izakaya to more people.

Aiba knew, he was leaning towards an optimistic way of viewing things, something he learned from his mother, but that was his choice on how to live life, and so far, he never regretted it. There was no use in fearing unknown things, and there was no need to assume a worst-case scenario for everything that took place. Aiba wasn't scared to lose anything with change, he was just curious about what fate would bring and he was convinced that in the end it would lead to something good.

Apparently though, Nino, who so often tended to see the negative aspect in things and overthink simply everything, still preferred to ignore his friend's positive comment and continued nagging about the situation, as the disapproving clicking of his tongue indicated. He stepped closer, trying to inspect the insides of the restaurant, and although the sunlight was strongly reflecting from the clear windows, it seemed like he could catch a glimpse of what was going on inside.

"Do you see the interior? It looks super weird," Nino said, frowning. To get a better view, he stepped even closer, until he was almost pressing his nose against the glass. "They are trying so hard to be hip and modern while actually – Oh my Gosh!"

Nino backed off, almost losing his balance and stumbled against Aiba, who caught his shoulders with his warm hands and threw him a confused look. Nino just opened his mouth, voicelessly, and pointed at the window in front of him. Aiba squinted his eyes to figure out what his friend was pointing at, and in the end, his eyes caught some movement behind the glass. Apparently, someone had stepped into the light. The man – probably around their age – was wearing a broad friendly smile on his face and was dressed in a neat dark suit with a white shirt underneath and a crimson necktie completing the image.

"The heck, that guy surprised me," Nino exhaled before turning back to the restaurant.

Aiba laughed. "Guess, he was not less surprised to see you almost licking the shop window."

Nino sighed. The stranger was still there, and now he was even waving his hand at them through the window. Nino cringed slightly, his cheeks covered in a light blush from the embarrassment that was rushing through him at that very moment.

"He must be the new owner," Aiba assumed.

"Very likely, if he's not a psycho who broke in there," Nino noted sarcastically, indicating that he was ready to walk away, but then, instead of following him, his friend lifted his hand and actually started waving back at the guy in the restaurant.

"What are you doing?!" Nino asked, goggling at Aiba as if he had gone crazy. "He's our rival!"

"He seems nice," Aiba smiled.

"He seems like a creep! You should stop waving at him, this is just awkward," the smaller man continued, stunned.

"Maybe we should knock on the door and say Hello," his friend suggested.

Nino's annoyed look spoke volumes though, and so, after waving his hand one last time, Aiba gave in and followed his friend. Surely, soon enough there would be another chance to greet their new neighbours appropriately.

\- - + - -

The next day, Aiba took the chance and used the closing hours of the izakaya between 4 and 6 pm to go buy some snacks at the nearby conbini – the only one that had Aiba's favourite type of potato crisps. He wanted to share them with Nino while watching a movie together, which the other had to check and review for his homework. It had become somewhat of a ritual for the two friends to watch those things together, if time allowed, and since Aiba was almost as much of a movie nerd as Nino, the latter tried his best to time everything for both of their convenience.

When Aiba exited the small shop, ready to sprint home so that he and Nino would manage finish watching the planned movie in time before Aiba had to start preparing for the evening at the restaurant, something happened, that he would never have expected.

He met _him_ again.

Actually, Aiba would probably have completely missed him, if the man passing by had not pushed his hair out of his face in the very moment Aiba spotted him. The man revealed a profile, which triggered something in Aiba, just for a split second, that he could hardly grasp, but also could not ignore. Looking back, Aiba wouldn't even be surprised if he had really missed _him_ , just due to the fact that he had changed quite a bit. More than expected, at least. Still, Aiba's eyes couldn't betray him. Even if the man was passing by so casually, even if he had grown much taller than Aiba imagined, he recognized something about him, instantly, and it made his heart race.

He was back. He was _back_! The voice inside of Aiba yelled, almost deafening. He couldn't believe it. Thoughts, feelings, questions flooded his mind, all at once. How was he, where had he been, what was he doing _back here_ , and why hadn’t he called Aiba to tell him he was dropping by in his old neighbourhood? Why didn't he actually show up at Aiba's place?

In shock, Aiba dropped his bag, and while he quickly bent down to pick it back up, cursing inwardly and hoping that he didn't ruin the snacks inside, the man in front of him - carrying a bag filled with groceries and other supplies by himself, and his ears covered with head phones – turned around in surprise and looked at Aiba, who – instead of watching his fallen snacks, immediately met his eyes. He was not able to look away anymore, as if he was enchanted.

Aiba must be blushing a little, at least, his face felt hot when he realized he was still staring at the young man, while the said man bent down, and picked up an item that had rolled a bit further away from Aiba. He stepped towards him and reached his hand out to give the item back to its owner.

"Oh," Aiba was pulled out of his trance, and with his heart beating like crazy, he took the snack and pushed it back into the plastic bag, slightly embarrassed. "Thank you, sorry, I'm just too clumsy..."

"Don't mention it," the man in front of him flashed him a smile and slightly shook his head to confirm that there was no problem.

He was already about to turn around and leave, faster than Aiba could think of anything else to say and make him stay. Probably, to Aiba's surprise, the man had not recognized his old friend, but then right now, even more so, Aiba had to do something before the moment was gone.

"Wait!"

Aiba stepped forward, following the again increasing speed of his heartbeat, reaching out his hand to snatch the edge of the man's long-sleeved shirt, and holding him back, causing the man to face him once more, completely confused over what was going on.

"Please, wait...," Aiba repeated, triggering an even stronger frown on the young man's forehead.

Locking eyes with that man once again, for a moment, Aiba had to stop breathing. He _had_ changed, Aiba had to admit. He had become so tall - it was almost ridiculous. His face had grown long and mature, not much left from the childlike facial features. That cute small round face Aiba remembered so well had turned into the one of an incredibly handsome adult, but the particular shape of his lips – the first lips that Aiba had ever kissed - had stayed the same. Also, those small cute moles around them were still dominant, and those breath-taking piercing brown eyes that Aiba loved so much, even though they were topped with quite prominent eye brows now. Those characteristics, he would never forget were there, but had grown mature.

Still, something was off. The man's eyes did not mirror Aiba's feeling of recognition. Soon, it dawned Aiba that the man in front of him had literally no idea what was happening, and what Aiba could possibly want from him.

"Excuse me?" the young man finally asked, confused. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Aiba took a deep breath and his heart constricted. Did _he_ change that much that his childhood friend did not recognize him? Did he just throw him off guard so much that he was simply too surprised to figure out what was going on? Or did Aiba actually mistake a stranger for his first love? No, he couldn't be mistaken. It was _him_ , even the sound of his voice – although it had become deeper – was the same. There was no doubt.

"What are you doing here?" Aiba asked, ready to slap himself for the stupid question. This was probably not the best way to start a conversation with an old friend who didn't recognize him. He could really come off as weird, or at least impolite.

"Uhm... I just moved here," the man replied, sending Aiba a slightly irritated look, before he raised his thick eyebrows and added challenging, "Do you jump on everyone who is new in town?"

"Ah, I'm sorry if I surprised you," Aiba said, chuckling softly in an attempt to recollect and forcing himself to offer his usual warm smile. "But, you are Jun, aren't you?"

Of course, he was, Aiba thought, who else could he be? And he would recognize Aiba in a second, or at the least when Aiba introduced himself again, and they would fall into each other's arms and hug each other close, cheering into each other's ears as loud as if they were back to being children, celebrating their reunion.

"I am," the man in front of Aiba confirmed and Aiba's heart jolted. "And you are -?"

"It's me, Aiba, you remember?" Aiba offered, excitement growing in his chest. "Gosh, it's been so long, I can't believe -"

His smile grew wider and his heart was beating faster and faster, but when Aiba took another step forward in order to throw his arms around his old friend and welcome him back appropriately, the other man - _Jun_ , who he just had confirmed to be – backed off.

"Sorry...Who?"

The man's face was painted with confusion and aversion and Aiba, his heart suddenly feeling like it was pierced by a knife, had no other choice but to let his arms drop back down, looking at Jun just as confused as the other was looking at him right now. He gulped, his throat suddenly feeling awfully dry when he tried to find back his self-composure, but the shock was too deep, and his voice was almost lost when he tried to reply.

"I'm Aiba Masaki...," he repeated. "You know, from the izakaya," he weakly pointed behind him into the direction of said restaurant. "We went to school together, we were friends, we -" _made a promise when you left_ Aiba wanted to add, but when he realized that there was still no hint of recognition in Jun's eyes, his voice broke.

Hearing Jun's next words hurt so much that Aiba wanted to cry.

"I am really sorry, but I do not know anyone by that name," the man said with an apologetic look on his face. "I… I have to go now, so... please excuse me. Good evening."

He nodded slightly towards Aiba before turning around and putting his headphones back on.

He left, his back becoming smaller and smaller the further he walked away. Aiba was still standing there, staring after him, until Jun vanished behind the next corner.

\- - + - -

Aiba had no recollection of how his feet managed to bring him home after that shocking encounter, but apparently, judging from Nino's complains when he entered his room, it must have taken him quite some time. His friend was already waiting for him, the movie ready in the Blu-ray-player and some ice tea ready for them to drink placed on the coffee table next to Nino's notebook. It took the younger man just a few seconds to realize that something was wrong with his friend. Horribly wrong. He jumped up immediately, dashing towards Aiba, just in time to catch him when Aiba's jelly knees finally gave in and he sank to the floor.

Something that usually took watching a sappy or emotionally movie together with his best friend happened next. Tears started clouding Aiba's view and it didn't take long before the young man found himself bawling his eyes out, Nino's arms wrapped around him, doing his best to soothe him while trying to find out what happened. But Aiba couldn't talk. He just couldn't take it any longer. He couldn't believe what just had happened.

It took Aiba a few more minutes to calm down and stop crying, and thankfully, Nino stopped pressuring him to explain what happened, but there was still complete confusion and worry written all over the younger man's face. Aiba brushed a last few tears out of the corner of his eye, and sniffled one more time before he took a deep breath and gave Nino a smile, which he noticed must have failed halfway.

"I'm sorry," Aiba said, before Nino even could ask again what was wrong. "I'm fine, don't worry," he added, but his friend's face clearly showed that he didn't believe a single word, so Aiba tried harder. He chuckled, trying to cover up his pain. "I guess I'm just in shock. You know... I met him. And... he didn't recognize me."

"You met _who_?" Nino asked, still utterly confused.

"Jun."

Aiba told his friend everything about the meeting ("Are you sure, it's _our_ Jun?" - "One hundred percent!") and then had to spend the next forty minutes listening to Nino exploding over the outrageous fact that their old friend seemingly didn't recognize Aiba ("As if anyone could ever forget someone like you!").

Aiba felt somewhat lucky to have a friend who turned so emotional about something bad that happened to him, but soon, his mind trailed off from Nino's rant, distracted by questions he found more important than why Jun did not recognize him.

What was Jun doing back here? What did he experience while he was gone? And even more importantly, would he stay this time?

\- - + - -

Luckily, Aiba was not a child of sadness, so usually, it didn't take long for him to overcome an emotional down time and find back his cheerful and positive self. That was also the case this time, after he recovered from the shock from the disastrous encounter with Jun.

Admittedly, during the first night Aiba wasn't really able to sleep, tossing and turning in his bed, trying to figure out how it was possible for Jun to have completely forgotten about him. But Aiba refused to believe that their friendship meant so little to his friend, that it was simply that – a forgotten childhood friendship. Maybe, he really had changed so much that Jun didn't recognize him. 

However, Aiba was surely motivated to get up the next day and go find Jun to try talking to him once more. There was no way, that they couldn't manage to figure this out and Aiba was sure that soon enough, he, Nino and Jun would be able to revive their old friendship. And maybe...

Aiba's heart started beating faster just by the simple thought of the possibility of getting closer to Jun again. He wondered, if Jun was still single, and if he would remember the kiss they shared on the red bridge nearby. It had been years ago, but when Aiba closed his eyes, it felt like it was only yesterday.

It didn't take much for Aiba's imagination to run wild. In his head, soon, the innocent kiss he and Jun shared as teenagers, developed into a hot kiss between two grownup men. It was easy to picture Jun in front of his inner eye, Aiba figured. The image of Jun as an adult, with his mature features, the perfect face and those wonderful, kissable lips, was burnt into his memory, and yes, it was very exciting to fantasize about kissing such a gorgeous, good-looking man. It made Aiba feel hot and very excited... 

But no, stop! He shouldn't be thinking in this direction, yet. As for now, there was simply no reason to let his hopes be carried away.

"It's naïve," Aiba told his heart, to calm it down and finally be able to find some sleep.

_"I don't care,"_ Aiba's heart replied, and the man felt his cheeks blushing again.

However, the next few days became so busy that Aiba simply did not have the chance to complete his plan on going out and finding Jun, even less, putting it into action.

On a positive note, it was even too busy for Nino to keep on ranting about the situation, as the young man was rotating between tables to serve guests in the izakaya and working on his movie review for film school. Aiba and his parents also had their hands full with cooking, delivering orders, and doing whatever job that needed to be done in the restaurant. On one hand, Aiba didn't mind, the distraction came welcomed and the passing time helped him to view the thing with Jun with more distance, but on the other hand, of course, it didn't solve the problem.

\- - + - -

It was only a couple of days later, when finally, things seemed to calm down a little, and it was the first time, Aiba actually had time to sit down and take a proper break.

"It's quiet," Nino stated when he woke up from a nap he had taken at the izakaya's bar, to be at least physically present to serve guests when needed, after a long stint of working on his homework at night, and found himself in an almost empty place.

There was only a group of three old men sitting a few seats away from him, who always came here to eat lunch and spend the early afternoon sharing some chitchat about their families and their newest additions. It was like a bragging contest about whose grandchild was cuter, and Aiba found that adorable. Also the apprentice from a nearby shop had already come to pick up a bunch of lunch boxes, as usual, but besides that, the restaurant was empty.

"You should be happy that today is not such a stressful day," Aiba, who was wiping the working surfaces behind the bar, said, flashing his best friend a cheerful smile. "You can continue your nap, if you feel like it. I can manage this alone."

"No... no," Nino shook his head, still a bit dizzy from sleep. "What I mean is, it's... too empty. Don't you agree?" He darted a look at the clock on the wall. The time that was displayed on the clock's face made him look around, as if searching for someone, but when he couldn't spot him, he turned to Aiba with a questioning look. "Has Ohno-san shown up for lunch already?"

Aiba paused for a moment. "No... he hasn't."

"That's strange."

Aiba tilted his head, frowning slightly. Now that Nino mentioned it, this was indeed strange.

Ohno Satoshi, who was a true artist, painting and sculpting things that humankind still had to imagine, and was highly successful doing so, was located just a few doors away. There he had opened up an atelier as well as a private gallery featuring his work, changing the display every few months. Ever since he moved here a few years ago, the man used to come to eat and drink in the Aiba family's restaurant at least once a day. He might not always be on time, since – paraphrasing him – his creative nature did not follow any rules or time schedules, but usually, his assistant Ishihara Satomi would pull him inside the izakaya around 2 pm at the latest, to make sure that the artist didn't forget to fulfil essential needs like eating and staying hydrated. Today though, even if it was almost 3 pm already, there was no Ohno and Ishihara in sight.

Speaking about the devil, it took just a few more minutes though, before the door of the izakaya flew open, triggering the small bell at the entrance to jingle like crazy to announce a new customer, who actually appeared in the form of said artist. Not without being pulled at his ear by a young, energetic woman with long brown hair and an angry face, her full red lips pouting, as she was obviously mad at the man she brought with her.

Aiba and Nino exchanged a surprised look before they focused back on the scene before them, Ishihara stopping in front of the bar and finally letting go off Ohno's reddened ear, whose face was distorted to a painful expression. His eyes were squinted, his nose wrinkled, and his lips parted in a silent scream. Finally, while lifting his hands carefully to cover his ear, the man released a noise, but he sounded rather like a wincing cat than a human being.

"So?!" the woman turned to Ohno, her face still angry, as she pushed her hands into her sides and nodded at him, challenging. "I expect you to apologize to Aiba-san and Ninomiya-san!"

Again, Aiba met Nino's eyes. They both had no idea what was going on. Ohno pouted and with his hair standing on edge and his white overall covered all over in multiple shades of paint, he resembled more a stubborn little boy than a grown man.

"Satoshi!" Ishihara almost screamed at him.

"It's OK, Ishihara-san please, calm down," Aiba finally stepped in, holding up his hands in a soothing gesture, and offering the young woman a gentle smile. "No matter what happened, I'm sure, we can sort this out."

"Apologize for what?!" Ohno finally spoke up, one of his hands still pressed against his hurting ear as he darted an enraged look at his assistant. "I was just _eating_. Usually, you yell at me if I _don't_ eat, what's your problem!?" the artist lamented. He turned to Nino, hinting a roll of his eyes and adding in a lower tone, "Seriously, I don't understand women..."

"You ate in _that_ restaurant, _that's_ my problem!" Ishihara clamoured. "You've _betrayed_ them!"

"Wait...," Nino turned to Aiba, whispering. "Today is Friday, isn't it?"

"Yes, Friday, why?" Aiba lifted his eyebrows, wondering about the weird question, until it finally clicked. "Oh..."

It was the day of the new restaurant's opening. How could he even forget?! This did not only explain the absurd scene right in front of him right now, but also the fact that the izakaya was practically empty today.

While Nino sighed heavily, Aiba started chuckling, and when his initial chuckle developed into a full laughter, the bickering between Ohno and Ishihara that had continued for the last few seconds subsided, as the two turned to the young man, confused.

"So what do you think about the new restaurant, Ohno-san?" Aiba asked, smiling when he found back his composure and finally put out some warm hand towels and two cups of tea to offer his two guests, who now no longer found any reason not to settle on the high stools at the bar in front of their host.

"Uhm... It's nice," Ohno replied, a bit insecure but honest, just to earn a poke in the cheek by his assistant, who he punished with an angry look before focusing back on Aiba. "The place is very modern, and their menu is really interesting. It's very different -"

Ishihara poked him, again.

"I said _different_ , not _better_ , now stop looking at me like this, would you?!" Ohno snapped, reaching his hand to poke back, the woman fighting him off with her hands, like a furious cat.

"What did you eat?" Aiba asked, curiously.

"I tried _ramen à la France_ ," the artist answered truthfully.

"That doesn't sound like ramen!" Nino cut in immediately, scepticism painted all over his face.

Ohno lifted his hand, placing his chin on it while making a thinking gesture. "Well, it was very... fancy."

"Fancy?" Aiba asked and Nino frowned. Surely, he was thinking about the image of the watermelon sushi from the restaurant's poster he and Aiba saw just a few days ago, too.

"It _looked_ fancy," Ohno continued. "They used some pretty uncommon ingredients too, and the arrangement was very artistic, like... yeah, more like art than actually something to eat. The taste wasn't bad either, but I still like your ramen best, Aiba-kun."

"Really? Thank you!" Aiba beamed and in return earned a sincere smile from the artist in front of him.

"I still can't believe that he went out _by himself_ just to check out that new restaurant, though," Ishihara continued complaining after taking a sip of tea.

Aiba just waved his hand. 

"I don't blame you, Ohno-san. You are free to go eat wherever you want, and to be honest, I truly understand that people are curious when a new place opens."

"I'm glad you view it like that, Aiba-kun. That's a very mature point of view," the artist nodded at him, appreciating, before sending a side glance to Ishihara, who rolled her eyes, unnerved.

"Not very business friendly, though," Nino aimed a small teasing comment at his best friend, who couldn't help but smile.

"I'd like to order some matcha ice cream for dessert, please," Ohno then said. He exchanged another look with his assistant, who now didn't look as angry any longer, but was still slightly pursing her lips. "Two servings."

 

\- + TBC + -


	3. Chapter 2

"I thought you didn't want to go and check out the new place?" Aiba nagged when Nino used the not so busy hours before lunchtime on the next day to drag him along. "Didn't you say something about I should _not even think about spending one single yen in that crummy place_? What about that now?"

The day before, Nino was so against the idea of paying a quick visit to their new _rival_ , that it took Aiba completely off guard when his friend actually suggested exactly that after breakfast. He had to admit, though, that he didn't mind the situation at all. Honestly, he was probably the most curious about the new restaurant, especially after Ohno's description of their apparently very modern, strange food creations. However, from time to time, Aiba had fun teasing Nino.

"I know, I'm contradicting myself, but we have to check this out," Nino replied, determined. "We have to see what takes our customers away."

"Maybe they are good?" Aiba offered.

"Maybe they are good," Nino repeated in disbelief. He snorted. "Is that everything you have to say?"

Aiba shrugged. "Ohno-san said they are artsy."

"That doesn't mean they taste good, does it?" Nino huffed on when they strolled down the street, with Aiba holding onto the seam of his friend's shirt to slow him down a little bit. "Moreover, exactly what I predicted is happening now, they are stealing our guests!"

It's only been one day since the opening of the new restaurant, and Aiba was sure that it was too early to conclude whether the new place would really take their customers away, or not, but Nino apparently, was furious. Or rather scared. Aiba had to try working against that, but he knew it could be tricky.

"Let's _assume_ you are right for now – but I want it for the record that I think you're a bit overreacting, - and people are going there because it's new and hip and whatnot. I bet if we just wait for one or two weeks everything will turn back to normal, as soon as the first vibes of curiosity ebbed away," Aiba started, considering this as a more realistic option to think about the initial run on the "Wagamama Kitchen".

Nino stopped, turning on his heel and threw him a frowning look. 

"Overreacting? I am overreacting?! I think that you are _under_ reacting, don't you know how important this is? Seriously, Masaki, am _I_ the successor of the izakaya or _you_? You should be a bit more worried about what will happen to it -"

"Slow down, Nino, slow down!" Aiba lifted his hands. He very much appreciated Nino's worries, and he understood them, but still, they were kind of over the top. He had to talk some reasons into his friend. "Even _if_ the izakaya isn't so busy these days, we still have delivery and are busy enough. We won't have to close down our shop because of that, so stop worrying about it, OK?"

Nino sighed, looking miserable, but in the end, he at least seemed to try, nodding slowly. Aiba smiled at him, to cheer him up, and leaped forward to throw his arm around Nino's shoulders and pull him with him as he continued to walk.

Aiba knew exactly where Nino was coming from. The izakaya was the Aiba family's everything. It was their place to work and live, and their reason and right to exist. It was essential to them, of course, the same way it had become essential to Nino. And especially for Nino, who experienced having nothing for the greater part of his life, the sole imagination of losing such a place must be horrendous. However, in Aiba's opinion, Nino was a huge over thinker and life would probably be much easier for him if he just stopped worrying so freaking much, at least occasionally. Maybe, checking out the restaurant would show him that things were not so bad after all.

They reached the "Wagamama Kitchen" in no time, it was actually a just a few minutes taking walk from one end to the other end of the street, and they had to admit that the newly opened restaurant indeed looked interesting and inviting. A few white tables surrounded by some very gaudy red and purple coloured chairs were being placed outside of the restaurant, lining the shop window, and there was a bright banner hanging next to the entrance, reading "New Opening" and "Welcome". There was even a small amount of people lining up in front of the shop.

Pretty much at the same time when Aiba and Nino settled at the end of the line to wait for their turn to get inside, someone they both knew quite well exited the restaurant, carrying a plastic bag with what Aiba assumed to be take-out food.

"Ohno-san, hello!" he greeted, waving at the artist with a friendly smile, who looked slightly confused as he turned his head into the direction from which he heard his name coming from.

"Oh, guys," the man said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"The question is what are _you_ doing here?" Nino shot back with a judging look, his arms crossed in front of his chest while Aiba was still holding onto his shoulder, pressing it a bit harder now, just as a prevention.

"Nino, I already said that Ohno-san is free to go eat wherever he wants," Aiba said, his smile still as broad as before.

"Well...," Ohno seemed a little embarrassed, his look dropping onto the bag in his one hand, while he lifted the other to scratch the back of his neck. "The sushi here is really..."

"Artsy?" Nino helped with a sceptically raised eyebrow.

"Indeed! It looks like -"

"Watermelon, _I know_ ," the younger man rolled his eyes before earning a pinch in the arm by Aiba. He didn't complain.

"Aiba-kun's ramen is still better," Ohno replied, pouting slightly.

Aiba laughed, flashing a smile at the artist. "Then please make sure to come get your ramen tonight."

"Sure, I will, see you later then," Ohno replied, smiling back and waving before he turned to stroll back down to his atelier.

"You are lucky that Ohno-san already counts as a friend rather than a simple customer, speaking impolitely to our guests is not a good idea, Nino, no matter how emotional you get," Aiba said to his friend, his voice sounding soft, but the message was clear.

Nino didn't reply but pursed his lips. It actually looked rather cute than offended though, and Aiba knew that Nino understood the situation very well, so he let it pass.

They had to wait for a few more minutes until they were finally next to go inside the restaurant. There was even a small area reserved for them to wait until one of the waiters would come to pick them up and lead them to a free table - as a sign announced politely.

The restaurant wasn't too big of a place, but it was certainly bigger than the Aiba family's izakaya. The tables were spread out more throughout the location, different from the neatly arranged tables in the izakaya. Compared to the more traditional and rustic, natural look that dominated their place, the restaurant here was decorated mostly in white. It gave off an open and modern flair, which was pimped up smartly by colourful modern wall art.

Aiba counted three waiters walking between the tables at a not too fast but also not too slow speed, creating a non-stressful atmosphere for their guests. The place was not too cramped, despite seemingly busy, most likely, the management here had to make sure not to let in too many people at once, so that they were able to fulfil all orders in a not too long waiting period, and keep everyone satisfied. This was actually not a bad tactic, Aiba thought.

The delicious smelling food that was being carried around by the waiters looked simply stunning. There were salads, sushi, dishes with meat, rice, noodles, and vegetables. However, as far as Aiba was able to see, all those quite Japanese looking dishes were twisted with something that made them look _different_. As a food lover and chef himself, the young man had to say that this was very interesting, that was for sure.

Another very interesting thing was the half-opened kitchen at the back of the restaurant. Parts of the kitchen seemed to be built into the room, behind a bar made of glass, so that people could actually sit there and watch their food getting prepared in front of their own eyes. It was similar to what Aiba did in the izakaya, but bigger, more modern and much more impressive. Aiba could not see the actual person in charge of the cooking from his position. He even had let go of Nino in the meantime, and tried to make himself even a bit taller to catch a glimpse. However, a group of excitedly chatting women was blocking the view. Anyway, Aiba couldn't help but smile while imagining how appealing the idea was to witness someone creating such interesting looking food.

Aiba was so immersed in the scene, that at first, he didn't realize what was going on, when Nino suddenly seemed to lose balance right next to him. Confused, Aiba then turned to his friend, but he couldn't react as fast as the waiter, who just popped up right next to them like out of nowhere, and caught Nino underneath his arms, carefully pulling him back up immediately.

"Wow, Beautiful, please watch your step, I don't want you to get hurt," the man aimed at Nino, flashing him a charming smile that made him look even more attractive, before he let go of him.

"Oh."

Nino looked just as perplexed as Aiba, when he recognized the man in front of him, dressed in black pants, a white shirt rolled up to his elbows, a black vest and a crimson necktie. It was the same man who scared Nino like hell only a few days ago when he peeped into the still unopened restaurant.

Realizing that the man was still holding onto him, Nino blushed and backed off from the waiter. Immediately, he grabbed onto Aiba, who instinctively let his arm slip around Nino's waist protectively.

"Nino?" Aiba asked, still slightly confused, but made sure to stabilize his friend, just in case he lost balance again.

"I'm OK, I'm OK," Nino murmured, although he still seemed a little wonky on his feet.

"Are you sure?" the waiter asked, his big round eyes widened with worry.

"Yes, I'm sure, thank you," Nino replied, embarrassed.

The man in front of him smiled, relieved, flashing his cute perfect white teeth between his perfectly shaped lips.

"Is our restaurant so breath-taking?" he then asked challengingly, throwing a wink at Nino.

"It's _unique_ , indeed," Nino replied, his face deeply red and Aiba wasn't sure but he rather hoped that the waiter didn't hear the sarcasm dripping from his friend's voice, or started laughing out loud.

"I am your waiter for today," the man with the friendly smile finally said, as if nothing had happened. He was professional, that much was for sure. After nodding at Aiba, he lifted his eyebrows as he searched for Nino's eye contact again. "A table for you and your...?"

His look went back to Aiba, curious, and Aiba suddenly understood.

"Oh... Oh, I'm not his date, no worries," he said, finally letting go of Nino again, who now seemed able to stand by himself again, without needing Aiba's support. Instead, he placed his elbow nonchalantly on Nino's shoulder. "A table for me and my _friend_ , please."

The waiter released a chuckle, slightly higher pitched than what Aiba expected, and cleared his throat before finding back his composure. Aiba grinned. That was kind of cute.

"Very well. Please follow me."

The waiter showed them a specific direction before turning, and Aiba and Nino followed him, as they were told. Aiba quickly leaned towards his friend, to check on him once more.

"Is really everything alright?" he frowned.

"Yeah, it's fine," Nino waved off. "I was just feeling a little dizzy."

"Did you drink enough water?" Aiba frowned at him strictly, knowing exactly that this was one of Nino's biggest flaws – not listening properly to his body and in that process, forgetting to stay hydrated during work or studying.

"I should probably drink some more," the younger man admitted.

"Here we go," the waiter announced, stopping in front of a small table, pulling back one of the chairs to offer Nino a seat, before indicating that he was going to do the same for Aiba, who just smiled gratefully and seated himself. The waiter nodded at him, before turning back to Nino.

"Would you like to have a glass of water before choosing your order?" he asked.

"Yes please," Aiba replied for his friend when Nino didn't reply. "That would be really appreciated."

"Alright, I'll bring it right away," the waiter bowed slightly before he left, leaving behind a still very embarrassed looking Nino.

"You really should pay more attention on drinking enough," Aiba scolded him, not the first time. Then, he was unable to hide his amusement over the strange scene between his best friend and the waiter any longer, and snorted, pulling Nino's disapproving look on him.

"I know, I know," Nino rolled his eyes while crossing his arms on top of the table in front of him. "By the way, what was _that_ , Masaki?! _"I'm not his date"_ \- he didn't even ask!" the young man lifted one of his hands to rest his chin and bury half of his still red face.

Aiba shrugged, amused. "He looked like he wanted to know."

"You're crazy...," Nino murmured cutely, burying his face even more in his hand. 

"You're blind. He was obviously trying to test the waters," Aiba tried to imitate the waiter's wink from before. He didn't quite succeed though, so he tried to smooth over the awkward gesture and simply continued his reasoning. "He called you _Beautiful_."

"You must have misheard..."

"Certainly not, my ears are perfectly fine," Aiba grinned.

"Maybe, that's how they treat customers here, or maybe, he's just a playboy and calls everybody like that," Nino hissed.

He shut up just in time when the waiter returned to their table and placed not only a small tray with wet towels in the middle of the table for them to use, but also two glasses filled with water in front of Nino and Aiba.

"Here we go," he directed at Nino with a smile on his lips.

Nino just nodded and reached for his glass, downing half of the water in one go to drown his obvious nervousness, while Aiba turned to the waiter, curiously.

"You're the owner of this place, aren't you?" he asked. "I saw you the other day. You remember him too, Nino, don't you?"

Of course, Nino did, but instead of jumping into the conversation, he only nodded before averting his eyes.

The waiter chuckled softly before he replied.

"I am sorry I scared you back then," he said, aiming at Nino, confirming that he too remembered the mentioned encounter very well, and then he focused on Aiba again. "I am sorry for not introducing myself properly, my name is Sakurai Sho," the man continued, bowing in front of his guests. "I am indeed the owner of this restaurant, even if not the only one," he gestured behind him. "My business partner and co-owner of this place is working in the kitchen."

"Oh, that's really cool!" Aiba beamed. "He must be an artist, judging from the impressive creations here, at least."

Sakurai smiled back, pleased. "He'll be delighted to hear that, thank you Mr..."

"Aiba. My name is Aiba Masaki and this is my friend Ninomiya Kazunari," Aiba introduced them both, earning a quick shocked look from his friend for giving away his name, but decided to ignore it.

"Nice to meet you two," Sakurai smiled. "So you are from this area?"

"Yes, we are working down the street at the izakaya," Aiba explained without hesitation.

"Oh, I passed it the other evening, it looks really nice," Sakurai said and to Aiba it did not seem to be a polite response only, but a genuine comment.

"Please pay us a visit next time you pass by," Aiba replied. "I'm sure, Nino will gladly serve you a glass of our finest beer," he grinned, looking at his friend.

Sakurai laughed heartily. "How can I say no to such a promising offer? Will you perhaps be wearing a cute uniform?" he asked, directing a slightly cheeky smile at Nino, who decided to continue ignoring the waiter.

"He will!" Aiba chimed in, earning an unnerved look from his best friend.

Having to accept his temporary defeat, Sakurai chuckled cutely before focusing back on his task and finally handing his two guests the menu.

"Please take your time to choose, I'll be back at your service when you are ready to order."

"Thank you!" Aiba cheered, before Sakurai left the table. As soon as he was out of sight, he turned to his friend, who was already hiding behind the opened menu. "He's _so_ flirting with you…"

"I don't care! First of all, I'm not interested in someone who's our _rival_ ," Aiba heard a hiss coming from behind the menu. "And second, you really don't need to help him."

"Don't be so cold, Nino, I know you're not good at such stuff, but he's cute and handsome! Enjoy the attention," Aiba chuckled before he opened the menu himself.

Immediately, the young man was immersed into the slightly confusing but absolutely fascinating choice of dishes, so that it took him another couple of seconds to feel the pair of eyes staring a hole into his forehead. Slowly, Aiba lifted his gaze from the pages to meet Nino's annoyed look, and Aiba was already prepared for a discussion with his friend, when Nino's look suddenly seemed to get distracted by something behind Aiba. He frowned and as if in reply, Aiba lifted his eyebrows in question.

"Uhm... Masaki?" Nino finally said.

"What's wrong?"

Nino pointed behind him. "Look..."

"What's there?" Aiba wondered.

"The chef at the kitchen isle..."

"I guess that's the place for the chef in a restaurant to be," Aiba chuckled.

He indeed had been curious before when he passed the kitchen area and was unable to catch a glimpse of the chef, however, right now, the menu was much more interesting to him. He could still stand up and go watch the chef when he was actually cooking Aiba's food, because that would be much more exciting!

"No, you don't get it," Nino said, excited. "What I mean is, look at the chef! _Now_!"

"Why?" Aiba asked, but turned around at the same time.

He fell silent when his eyes made out the kitchen space in the back of the restaurant, which was actually not that far away from them. Compared to before though, the bunch of women occupying the isle was gone now, and so Aiba's gaze immediately fell onto the person standing there behind the counter, preparing some food. Aiba gasped. It was a tall, incredibly handsome young man, dressed in a white chef uniform, and Aiba couldn't ignore the idea that the girls were probably watching _him_ rather than his work. He was just too attractive for this kind of place. Aiba's body froze, but his heart was beating like crazy.

He _knew_ that man.

"It’s _Jun_ , isn't it?" Aiba heard Nino whispering behind him, even if he sounded more like he wanted to jump up and yell the chef's name while pointing at him.

At least, the fact that Nino recognized their friend too meant that Aiba wasn't turning crazy. Still, he was not able to look away from Jun. Out of all places, this had to be the last one Aiba expected to find him again. A restaurant. Behind the kitchen counter. Working. Cooking. There were many thoughts rushing through Aiba's brain at this very moment, too many to catch all at once and to process the situation. He was in shock.

"Masaki?" distantly, there was Nino in the background. "Hey!"

Aiba almost jumped in his chair, surprised by his friend's suddenly raised voice, and his head shot around, facing Nino.

"It's him?" the younger man wanted to confirm, his eyes quickly looking at the chef behind Aiba before locking eyes with his friend again. "The one you met the other day?"

Not able to voice any wise words, Aiba simply nodded and Nino, who seemed to have slipped forward to the edge of his seat, sank back into his chair, releasing a deep sigh.

"He really changed," Nino murmured.

"You mean, he became more handsome?" Aiba chuckled, trying to hide the nervousness behind his voice, that his suddenly extremely fast heartbeat caused.

Partly, he indeed was feeling some ridiculous sense of pride about how well Jun had grown up over the past years, he could completely understand the feeling that was gracing Nino's face at that moment – pure nostalgia.

Aiba's heart stung, when his thoughts finally processed what all of this meant. Jun had returned. Which was awesome, and should make him incredibly happy, but apparently, Jun had no recollection of Aiba, and probably even forgot their joint dream of opening up a restaurant together. They had talked so much about their future plans when they were kids, but now, Jun was here, and working in a restaurant, without Aiba. Who he didn't even recognize. For a moment, Aiba felt treated extremely unfairly.

He couldn't help but turn around again, his eyes instinctively searching for Jun again, as he watched him moving from one end of the kitchen isle to the other, handling different types of food while giving orders to a young boy without looking at him, who seemed to be his assistant. Jun's handsome face was all serious, and he didn't seem to let anyone disturb his concentration, staying focused on his tasks, like a real professional. For a moment, Aiba imagined, how it would be, if _he_ would be standing next to Jun, sharing his task. Would he look into his eyes when giving orders? Would he smile at him? Would he be strict with him? Would he scold Aiba for staring at him (but then, who could be mad at him for staring at such beauty)? It would be Aiba's dream to stand next to Jun in the kitchen and share the working space, making their guests smile when they ate their food, spreading happiness.

Trying to focus back on Nino, Aiba turned around to his friend once more, clearing his throat.

"Things indeed changed...," he said, intending to leave it at this, but Nino didn't seem finished with the topic just yet.

"Still, he is..."

"Him," Aiba ended Nino's sentence softly.

Nino looked at Aiba for what felt like a very long time, and Aiba could almost see the thoughts doing their work inside Nino's head, trying to figure out what to do, until the young man finally found his words.

"What's he doing here?" Nino finally asked the same question that had occupied Aiba's mind for the past few minutes.

"Cooking, obviously," Aiba replied, deciding to voice the obvious rather than actually starting a discussion about the _real_ question behind Nino's words - _"Why here?!"_

"But why?! Why in this restaurant?" his friend asked, nevertheless. "Why isn't he working with us in the izakaya or why aren't you two guys working together in a completely different place?"

Aiba swallowed and his heart started beating heavier again, this time painfully. It felt like his heart would beat in his throat, making it feel narrow and making it harder for him to breathe. He tried to calm down.

Of course, he had no answer to Nino's question. He knew what Nino implied. The question, he actually wanted to ask was _why did Jun betray your dream_? And even if this was the exact same question that was torturing Aiba right now, it was a question, Aiba obviously did not have an answer for. It was not as if he could stand up and walk over to Jun, facing him with this exact question. However, even if he might have considered this option for a split second, it was like Aiba's feet had turned into stone anyway. Even if he wanted to, he physically would not be able to get up and go.

"Shall I go talk to him?" Nino asked after a few more seconds of silence.

Suddenly, Aiba panicked, his imagination immediately running wild with the image of his friend stomping up to Jun and yelling at him to find out "what the hell" he was doing here and why he had not considered Aiba in all of this. He could actually picture the scene before his inner eye.

With a slightly shaking voice, Aiba asked. "What do you want to talk to him about?"

"I don't know...," Nino brushed his hand through his hair, seemingly lost, just as much as Aiba was. "Ask him what he has been up to, what he is up to _now_. Maybe he recognizes me... Sorry, that was insensitive..."

Aiba smiled, or at least, tried to smile. 

"No no, it's a possibility, isn't it? Maybe, you should go check. Just to make sure." 

Actually, he felt a little relieved. At least, it did not sound as if Nino was planning to rip of Jun's head right away. He might be emotional at times, but when it called for it, he was a very sensitive person.

"You sure?"

"Sure. Go," Aiba nodded.

"You want to come along?"

Aiba chuckled, nervously. Besides his still heavy feeling feet, he honestly wasn't sure if he would be able to face Jun at the moment. He might start crying in front of him, overwhelmed by all the confusion and feelings and questions, and how uncomfortable that could make Jun feel. 

No. Aiba shook his head slightly, without saying anything more. It would be better if he stayed here and tried to collect himself for a moment.

Nino seemed to understand and so, he stood up alone. He let his hand touch and press Aiba's shoulder for a second before passing him and heading towards the young chef of the restaurant, with slow, but determined steps. Aiba's heartbeat sped up once more, watching his friend. He had no idea what was going to happen now, what exactly Nino was going to do, or to say, or how Jun was going to react.

Jun must have his own good reasons to be here, Aiba tried convincing himself. He _surely_ had his reasons and there was nothing wrong with it, childhood promise or not. They were adults now. They each went their own way - it was as simple as that. It was of no use to feel salty about not fulfilled childhood dreams, was it? Aiba closed his eyes for a moment, but as much as he tried to convince himself about these thoughts, there was still this bitter after taste. _Why not together with me?_

Aiba's throat felt awfully dry. Unable to watch what Nino was doing, he turned back to their table and took a big sip from his glass of water. He didn't dare looking back, even if he wanted to, and the noise of chatter and laughter from all the happy people surrounding him was too loud anyway for Aiba to be able to hear what was taking place behind him. They were too far away to be overheard. Therefore, Aiba decided to try taking off his thoughts from the situation and study the menu all over again. He still did not choose what to eat, after all...

Quickly though, Aiba noticed that his view was kind of blurred. He couldn't focus on reading, he was too nervous. Everything in his mind was screaming _Jun_ right now, and his own crazy beating heart was the only thing Aiba was able to feel. The noises around him blurred to a constant buzz and his body almost felt like paralyzed.

He was only pulled out of his trance-like state, when someone – Nino, of course – took the menu out of his hand, just to turn it around and slide it back in his hands.

"You were holding it upside down," Nino said softly, before taking his seat again across to his friend.

"Oh," Aiba chuckled. "Thanks."

Nino tilted his head, sending a worried look to his friend. "Are you OK?"

"Sure," Aiba said after clearing his still dry throat. He tried to sound as normal and composed as possible, even if he knew that Nino would be able to look right through him. "So... what did you two talk about?"

"Actually, I played a little dumb," Nino started his report. He sighed and paused for a second before he continued. "I asked if he comes from the area because he looks familiar and I grew up here and he said yes, but when I asked him if he remembers me, he said no. Not my name, not my face... So at least it's not just you he apparently forgot..."

Aiba wasn't sure if this was supposed to cheer him up or make him even sadder than what he felt when he met Jun just a few days before. He just couldn't understand. There had not been a single day passed without him thinking of Jun. Sure, maybe he was investing more feelings than Jun was. Maybe, while he was missing Jun like crazy for these past years, Jun was just excited about his new life far away from their hometown, meeting new people, experiencing new things... and it wasn’t before long that he started to stop thinking about Aiba and his friends from his childhood. But how was it even possible that he did not even remember his name? That he recognized neither him nor Nino, that both of them were not enough to make Jun remember their joint past and make him smile at them as he used to as a kid? Just... how?!

Aiba was so downed in his thoughts, his heart wrapped in sadness that he even had drifted off from listening to his friend, before he was finally able to focus back on Nino's words.

"...Anyway, I don't know why, but something felt really off... He wasn't very communicative until I started talking about the meal he was preparing. _Then_ he suddenly started to explain the way he cooked the meat to me, and what inspired him to decorate it the way it looks interesting and special..."

"I see," Aiba said, feeling the necessity to say at least _something_ to signal Nino that he was still listening – or at least tried to.

Maybe, he should try seeing this from a positive point of view, Aiba wondered. Nino's description of Jun being so passionate about his work and willing to explain how he prepared his food, was exactly what Aiba expected Jun to do if they were to share a restaurant, like his dreams.

"Are you trying to smile?" Nino's sceptical voice cut into Aiba's thoughts.

"Huh? Ah," actually, the young man didn't even know, but as a believer in positive words becoming positive thoughts, he continued trying his best to convince Nino – and himself – about good parts of this whole situation. "I don't know. I just thought, maybe we should be happy. Jun fulfilled his dream. He became a chef, no, more than that, he became a chef _and_ co-owner of this restaurant, and seriously, considering his age... isn't that fantastic?"

"Well, _I_ thought, his dream was to become a chef and working _together with you_ ," Nino said, obviously refusing to hop onto Aiba's positive train. Surely, he saw through him completely. He was probably not willing to allow Aiba to run away from his actual feelings...

"I know and yeah, it would be even better if that had happened," Aiba admitted. "But as you can see, it didn't. Maybe it's not his dream anymore."

"You mean, he forgot about your promise and you just _accept_ that?! Are you telling me, you're OK with that?" Nino arched a worried eyebrow.

Aiba turned around once more, looking at Jun, who was still busy cooking. He looked very focused. He looked incredible. As if – despite having the looks of a model – he belonged behind the counter and had never done anything else in his whole life but cook. It was such a confusing feeling, Aiba could feel his eyebrows furrowing. It hurt, seeing Jun like that, fulfilling his dream without Aiba by his side, but on the other hand, it also hurt Aiba that he couldn't feel completely happy for his friend. It was difficult... as if he was sitting between two chairs. He wanted to be proud and happy for Jun, and a part of him _was_ all that, however, there was also a part of him, deep inside, that felt betrayed.

After a few seconds, Aiba took another deep breath, and finally replied. "What can I do? I _have_ to be OK with that."

"Everything alright, gentlemen?" the two men's conversation was suddenly disturbed by their returning waiter, restaurant co-owner Sakurai Sho, and his charming smile. "Can I take your order already?"

In fact, right now, Nino looked like his appetite was completely gone (probably not due to the reappearance of the waiter, but due to the whole Jun related story), and if Aiba was completely honest, he felt the same. However, they had come here with the goal of _spying_ on their rivals, and more than that, how impolite would it be to get up and leave without ordering something? Trying to ignore his missing appetite – and trying to convince his brain that his stomach at least wanted to try Jun's food – Aiba turned to Sakurai and asked him for his recommendations.

Where Nino was only able to decide on a dish after Sakurai convinced him on how delicious and juicy the German inspired, fried hamburger variation with rice balls was, Aiba seemed to recover from his initial shock a bit faster. After flipping through the menu once more, he actually got stuck with something that had drawn his interest the first time he read it. So in the end, Aiba ordered the "fried ebi-pizza tower", which sounded simply incredible and actually made him wonder how Jun would be able to build a tower from pizza, and if he would decorate it with ebi. 

"Thank you, I'll be right back," Sakurai bowed after taking notes on his small note pad, not without sending another smile into Nino's direction – which Aiba of course noticed right away, before he left.

Nino looked a little lost and irritated, but Aiba didn't miss that he continued looking at the waiter, even if he was not sure how to interpret his friend's behaviour, yet. Picking up on this thought, Aiba decided that it was the perfect chance to change the topic from Jun to something much more amusing. He could continue worrying about Jun later, as the topic surely had not left the table completely, but it would definitely be a waste not to use the opportunity to tease Nino when chances were presenting themselves so shamelessly. As soon as Sakurai was out of sight, Aiba leaned a bit forward on the table, grinning at his friend, as if nothing happened.

"He did it again," he said in a low voice.

Nino frowned at him. "What?"

"He looked at you like... _that_ ," Aiba wiggled his eyebrows, grinning broadly.

"That man is _not_ flirting with me, Masaki. That's just stupid," the younger man snorted, shaking his head.

"Nino has an admirer," Aiba sing sang, obviously entertained by the situation.

"Stop that, please, you're being too loud!" his friend hissed, turning red.

"Oh, you're blushing again," Aiba cooed, placing his chin in his hands, his elbows on the table.

Yes, he felt much better now, as he tried to push away his sorrows, in order to make the best out of the moment. Furthermore, if it helped to pull Nino out of his own negative thoughts, Aiba wouldn't regret it. Even if his friend would have to forgive him for teasing him a little.

"Because being with you is embarrassing," Nino mumbled, pouting.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed," Aiba stated. "I'm sure; Sakurai-san likes that too."

Nino just rolled his eyes and tried his best to change the topic to pass the time until their food would arrive. After his body felt quite a bit lighter, now after the situation had brightened up a bit, Aiba considered standing up and going to watch Jun prepare their food. However, considering his inner turmoil, in the end he decided to save this for another time. He might be a bit too emotional right now to be able to deal with something like that, and he really wasn't sure how he should face Jun, who probably still considered him simply as the strange guy from the neighbourhood who jumped at people who helped him pick up stuff from the street... Maybe, Aiba should invest a bit more thoughts and planning into how to confront his old friend from now on before jumping into it and risking making another strange impression on the young man.

Unexpectedly, the food didn't take long at all to arrive, and so, Aiba's worries were redundant anyway. Seeing the impressive creations on their plates in front of them, for just a small moment, Aiba wished that he actually _had_ watched Jun arranging these art pieces, but as he already decided, there would always be a next time to do that.

\- - + - -

When the two friends returned to the izakaya, taking over preparations for the afternoon from Aiba's mother, Aiba was in a quite good mood. He had not expected to not only get a stunning meal, but also to find Jun so easily, and finding out that he actually co-owned that new restaurant. This was the biggest surprise Aiba could have imagined and while he was still trying to figure out how exactly he should think about it, he couldn't help but be happy for Jun and his accomplishments. This was truly amazing!

Aiba didn't have the chance to talk to him before he and Nino left, after all, he didn't want to disturb the chef’s work, but now, he knew where to find the young man and it would be easy to create a chance to meet him again. 

Furthermore, after their visit to the "Wagamama Kitchen" Nino had – for now - stopped nagging at Aiba, worrying over the future of their izakaya. Maybe, that could be credited to Sakurai, who – as Aiba was still convinced – had been obviously flirting with his friend for the whole time. It confused Nino so much that he must have forgotten everything else, at least for now.

It had been a while since someone had tried to flirt with Nino so openly, and as Aiba said, he knew Nino wasn't good with such things, and probably was indeed not interested in starting to date someone. However, Aiba found the situation itself and his friend's reactions immensely cute and amusing. In the end, Sakurai even slipped a napkin with his phone number onto their table in front of a red-faced Nino, which showed Aiba that the waiter must be serious indeed, and not only fooling around with new guests (he had paid attention to Sakurai and noticed that he did not treat any other guest like how he treated Nino). Further, Aiba knew exactly, that for a second, despite whining about how _not_ interested Nino was in _anyone's_ phone number, he had at least considered taking the napkin with him, even if in the end, he did not.

Somehow, Aiba really hoped that Nino would finally overcome his trust issues, and for once let new people into his life. He still had trouble making new friends, and besides Aiba and his family, Toma and Yuriko - maybe also Ohno, if someone squinted - there were not many people that Nino would consider as friends. He didn't even seem to have much contact with colleagues from film school besides when there were joint projects that they had to work on together. At least, he never really talked about anyone in particular, and so Aiba assumed that Nino was more a loner there, too.

His friend's sad history might be an understandable reason for him not to trust people too easily, and sadly, the fact that Jun had suddenly cut all contacts with Aiba and Nino some years ago had not exactly been helpful. Still, Aiba wondered, if there was someone in this world besides him, who would be able to open Nino's eyes and heart even more towards the most beautiful emotion in the world – love. Not only the love Aiba and his family were able to provide Nino with, but something more. Aiba would be so happy for his _little brother_ , if he could finally find that special someone, and start making all those happy experiences. Sakurai seemed like a nice (and very handsome) man. Maybe, he would be the right one for Nino? At least, Aiba wanted to root for him, and he really hoped that Sakurai did not give up on Nino already, after his aversive behaviour.

Aiba's thoughts started trailing away even further, the longer he was occupied with slicing onions, carrots, and potatoes for a huge pot of curry, and so, naturally, his thoughts went back to Jun once more.

Jun had been Aiba's first love. There was no doubt about it. However, compared to Nino, Aiba indeed went through a phase during adolescence, where he was a bit more open to experiments. He had always been curious, so his first kiss with Jun had not stayed Aiba's last kiss. He had dated and kissed boys, and girls, sometimes, there was even more, however, nothing really felt right to him. There had always been this tiny voice in his mind that told him that something was missing. _Jun_.

That was the reason, why no relationship that Aiba tried in the past had worked out. That was the reason, why Aiba was still single. It wasn't like he had been waiting for Jun to come back... or was it?

Suddenly, Aiba wondered if he was Jun's first kiss too. Back then, they had not really voiced their feelings for each other and they had never really talked about things like kissing and such. Aiba had no idea if Jun had ever been in love, or if Jun was even interested in Aiba, or if that good-bye kiss was just accepted by him due to the situation. Did he know back then already that he would vanish for so long? Did he stop contacting Aiba because of that? Or did he really just _forget_ everything?

Maybe if they talked with each other once more, and Aiba could tell Jun some stories from their childhood, Jun would remember him. Excitedly, Aiba was already setting up a plan internally on when it would be best to go meet Jun for this purpose.

In Aiba's head, everything would work out so perfectly. They would talk, and Jun would remember everything, and if Aiba was lucky, Jun would still be single and maybe even interested too. Then, Aiba would ask him out for a date – because honestly, he would be stupid to miss that chance, wouldn't he? Maybe, he should bring Nino along and set him and Sakurai up so that they could go on a double date. Bowling would be a good idea, since it would be a nice activity for a small group and if they teamed up appropriately, they would be able to reconnect or, in Nino and Sakurai's case, create new connections. Or what about karaoke?

"Watch what you're doing, Masaki, you cut far too many potatoes!" the voice of his mother suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts.

Indeed, there was now a small mountain of peeled and cut potatoes piling up in front of him. It was such a funny image that it caused Aiba to chuckle, before apologizing and promising to use some of them to make croquettes. Aiba tried his best to focus on his tasks from then on, but the grin stayed on his face, his daydreams still intact.

With one thing, Nino had been right. The new restaurant had brought changes. However, Aiba didn't think of that as a bad thing. Changes could be scary, but if people accept them and try making the best out of them, there would always be something new to discover. Or in Aiba's case – something _old_. This change could be the chance to revive an old friendship, and Aiba definitely did not want to miss this chance.

\- - + - -

Jun was busy cleaning the kitchen all by himself, as he had already sent his assistant home, who seemed quite exhausted from the busy day, after he helped to wash the dishes. The chef had turned up the volume on the radio, the music making the mundane task of sorting kitchen utensils and wiping surfaces much easier. When he turned his head, he spotted his friend Sho wiping the floor while singing along. He grinned, feeling amused.

Despite the late hour, Sho seemed to have quite a bunch of energy left, which was really impressive, considering how much running around he had been doing for the whole day, serving guests and taking care of most organizational things in the restaurant. It was a very successful day again, Jun assumed, even if he had no idea how much money they actually made. The most important thing for him was that people enjoyed their time in their restaurant and that they liked his cooking and regarding those aspects, he knew he didn't need to worry. There were just as many people watching him cook and asking him questions about it, as satisfied guests thanking him for a delicious meal before they left, which made Jun really happy.

Initially, when Sho introduced the concept to him during the stage of planning their restaurant, Jun was averse to the idea of an "open kitchen". He had argued that he needed to be by himself in order to focus, that he didn't need strangers staring at him or talking to him, but now he didn't regret letting himself be persuaded to give it a try. Sho was right, Jun had no problem with cooking in front of other people, and surprisingly he even became quite babbly about his food creations, despite his usually calm personality, and enjoyed it. It had obviously turned some people's visit here into something a little more special. That alone was worth it, Jun thought.

His food had been praised multiple times, not only when people were watching him cook, but also after when they finished their meals, and of course, this filled the young chef with pride and joy. All those past few years of travelling with Sho and studying different cuisines, Japanese, Chinese, as well as Western, finally started to pay off.

It's been a long way since their initial meeting, becoming business partners, and finally putting their plans into action. It was during the summer camp between Jun's second and third year of high school, when the two very different men met for the first time. Sho, who was almost two years older than Jun, had been volunteering as a supporting tutor in the activities as part of his studies at university. Somehow, when he and Jun discovered their mutual love for food, the two very quickly became friends. When Jun told Sho that ever since his childhood he had the urge of wanting to become a chef, Sho was hooked by the young man's dream and decided to team up with him, as soon as Jun had graduated from high school.

After graduation, Jun, instead of going to college, decided to travel the world together with his friend Sho, who switched his studies to distance studies for the corresponding time, and accompanied the aspiring chef, so that they both would be able to collect knowledge about different countries regarding food, cooking, and hospitality.

As soon as Sho achieved his degree, he announced to his parents that he would not pursue a career in this field, but that he was much more interested in opening and handling his own restaurant. He and Jun still had some things to learn, and they did, taking courses about business management and accounting in Sho's case, and doing his best to refine his cooking skills in Jun's case. After a few years, they finally reached the last few steps, choosing the theme and location for their restaurant, planning the interior and moving their lives there, to give their passion a home.

If people were worried seeing those two ambitious young men deciding to try opening their own restaurant, and wondered if things would continue to go well, they would be proven wrong. Not that it mattered for Jun, but he was proud to be able to say that his and Sho's hard work finally seemed to pay off and he could imagine nothing greater than being able to do what he loved the most, and make a living out of it.

Checking the time, Jun finished up the rest in the kitchen as fast as he could, since he wanted to get home quickly to watch his favourite late-night cooking show featuring one of his favourite comedians who invited prestigious cooks to his studio kitchen in order to learn proper cooking.

Jun called out to Sho, who was about to performance a rap, using his mop as a standing microphone, since his friend also enjoyed the TV-show and surely didn't want to miss it either. As expected, Sho dropped his "microphone" and proceeded to finish cleaning the floor in record time (while rapping), and then went to the back to change out of his waiter's uniform into his casual clothes. Jun followed his example soon. The young chef just turned off the radio, switched off the lights in the kitchen and searched for his keys in his pockets, so that they could lock up and leave.

Outside, the shopping district seemed almost empty already since the surrounding shops were closed for a few hours. The street lanterns were still lighting their way, and the atmosphere had almost something romantic in it, if not for a group of drunken men, most likely celebrating some kind of stag party, wearing their proper suits still buttoned up but their ties wrapped around their heads, singing loudly to encourage the soon-to-be-groom. There were also noises coming from a bar around the corner, and probably, the izakaya down the street would still be opened too, but besides that, the street was way quieter than during the day.

Sho and Jun had decided not to leave the restaurant opened until a too late hour at night, simply because they didn't want drunkards like the ones they just witnessed occupying their place until the early morning hours. That's what bars are for, Sho used to say, and Jun agreed. However, after the immense rush of people after their opening, they were opened a bit longer these days. With that, and considering the cleaning up process after sending the last few guests home with a thank you and good night wishes, it became late enough.

The still chilly air at night caused Jun to shiver for a moment, before he adjusted his jacket and started walking, Sho in tow.

Thankfully, their way home wouldn't take them too long, since Sho had wisely chosen to rent an apartment within about a ten minutes walking distance. It was a small apartment located on the third floor of a small apartment complex, but it was big enough for two people, and so the two friends decided to share a place and divided the costs in half. Especially as long as they didn't know if their restaurant would be a success in the long run, it wouldn’t be stupid to save money where they could, and Jun rather lived on a lower budget than having to downgrade the quality of the ingredients he used for his cooking.

"So?" Sho suddenly asked, catching up with his friend.

"So… what?" Jun asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

Sho smiled widely. There was something expecting in his following question. "What do you think about our second day?"

"It was exhausting, but fun," Jun started answering, his grey cells already trying to figure what exactly Sho was up to. "I think we had quite a number of guests. What do the numbers say? Are you satisfied?"

"Jun, I am not talking about numbers here," Sho replied. "I mean, yes, there were a lot of guests visiting us these past two days, much more than I expected to come, and yes, I think we earned a considerable amount of money," Sho continued, because, although there were a lot more things on his mind than just their earnings, he of course also had the numbers in his head, "But what I want to know is, how was it from the emotional side?"

Sho's look felt so piercing that Jun had to avert his eyes. There it was, the question he feared the most since they opened their restaurant on Friday. Jun was already grateful that his friend had not bothered him with the topic yesterday, however, apparently, he had reached his limit of keeping it to himself.

"Did you meet any people you know from your past?" Sho asked, his voice lowered a bit, trying to make it sound as tender-hearted as such a question could possibly sound.

"I am not sure if you understand how difficult this is," Jun started, wondering how he could possibly explain his situation in the best way, without tearing down his friend's hopes too much, who surely only meant well for him. "We moved here only about a week ago and I haven't been here in ages. Even if there were people I knew from the past, they changed. I changed. Maybe I don’t even recognize them _if_ I remembered them. Maybe, they don't recognize me either. However, so far, it's just an immense amount of new faces for me… and more importantly, I am trying to focus on the cooking when I'm in the restaurant. Naturally."

"Sure… I just thought, maybe…," as expected, Sho was not able to hide his disappointment, even if he tried.

Jun sighed. Maybe, there was one little thing, he could tell, which Sho might consider as a small victory. "However, there was indeed one person I recognized, today..."

Sho's face slipped. "What?"

"Not from my past…," immediately, Jun tried to row backwards. Probably, he had chosen the wrong words to start this. "Rather from meeting him a few days ago when I was on my way home from shopping... but he seemed to know me..."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" his friend's voice almost doubled in pitch from excitement.

"I don't know, I guess I was just too confused," Jun tried to defend himself. "He seemed to recognize _me_ but to be honest with you, I have no recollection of him or his name… I have no idea…"

But Sho had already lost it, latching himself into that one clue Jun had just provided him with. "Who is that person?"

It was no use to hide more things from his friend, and so, Jun continued talking. "Remember the one who accompanied that cute black-haired guy you couldn't resist flirting with? Don't think I didn't notice that," Jun arched an eyebrow, just to earn a smug grin from his friend. 

"You are probably talking about Aiba-kun and Ninomiya-kun. The taller man with lighter hair said his name is Aiba Masaki, if I remember correctly, and that he and his friend are working in the izakaya down the street," Sho contributed and Jun wasn't even surprised that his friend already had their names.

The chef nodded. "That's his name, and when I ran into him in front of the conbini, he mentioned an izakaya too. He said we've been friends... And when they came to the restaurant today, that Ninomiya guy came up to me while I was cooking and asked me if I remember him."

"But you don't remember anything?" Sho asked carefully, and Jun shook his head. Then, there was another question to ask. "You don't believe them?"

Jun thought about it for a few seconds, and then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know…"

"You know, not everyone has bad intentions when trying to connect with you, right?" Sho trying to remind his friend, knowing exactly why his friend was reluctant to take what felt for him like a stranger's words for granted.

Jun lifted his hand to rub his neck. "I know…"

"I understand that you are being careful," Sho continued. "But if you ask me, you should try to be a bit more open minded. I don't want to pressure you, just be open and see what happens, OK?"

"Sho, maybe this is just useless," the younger man added, seemingly stressed out. Even if Sho tried to hold pressure to a minimum, in the end, it was still stressful for Jun. "I appreciate that you want to help me with all this, but can't we just focus on our restaurant and leave it at that?"

Sho furrowed his eyebrows in a worried expression and slightly pursed his lips. "But it would be a pity if you didn't even try –"

"I agreed to move back to my old neighbourhood. If it will help with my amnesia, fine. If not, not, OK?" Jun looked straight into his friend's eyes. He hoped he didn't sound as desperate as he felt right at that moment. "I want to focus on the restaurant for now."

Apparently, Jun had been living in this area once during his childhood for more than a decade. However, due to certain circumstances, he did not have any recollection of this period of his life. The young man had lost big parts of the memories regarding his childhood, including places, and people. Ever since Jun told his close friend Sho about this, his friend became obsessed with the idea of bringing Jun back to the place he forgot. According to Sho, whose father worked as a psychologist, whom Jun had even consulted a couple of times – more to do his friend a favour than for himself – one's childhood was one of the most important things, one of the biggest pillars to build one's personality, as well as one's future on.

Honestly, Jun had never really agreed with his friend on that. It wasn't like he felt sadness over the fact that he couldn't remember the earlier years of his life. Sure, it would be nice to not have a gap in one's memory, however, in Jun's current situation, he did not miss anything from his past. What could he even miss, if he couldn't remember it? Probably, it was better this way. Maybe, there even were memories that were better forgotten. Still, since Sho had insisted on it, in the end, Jun agreed to move back to his old town and open their restaurant there. It wouldn't hurt, and sooner or later if Sho finally learned to shut up about that topic, once he realized and accepted, that Jun's memory wouldn't come back, it would be fine. It wasn't like Jun did not appreciate his friend's wish to help him, but he was convinced that Sho cared more about the whole situation than he himself. Maybe, only someone who suffered from his condition would be able to understand his way of thinking.

"I understand, Jun, but those guys could be the clue to your past," Sho finally added. "Maybe, if you talk to them, it might trigger something. Or if you don't want to, maybe I could go and ask them for details?" he offered.

"You want us to go to that izakaya and talk to them?" Jun asked.

Sho nodded without even a second of hesitation.

"Don't tell me you're really crushing on that Ninomiya guy?" Jun grinned at his friend, trying to change the topic.

"That has nothing to do with this," Sho replied, furrowing his eyebrows.

However, Jun knew exactly, if he kept on just a little longer, his friend would take the bait. "I thought you need an excuse to talk to him again. For me, you looked serious."

"Maybe?" Sho said, pursing his lips, before he broke down, almost immediately. "OK, yeah, actually, I was seriously trying to flirt with him."

"Didn't look like you were successful," Jun countered, reaching his hand to teasingly poke Sho's side, who jumped a little at the tickling touch.

"Hm... not really…," the man then said, recalling the meeting with his new chosen flame. "He seemed nervous but I'm not sure if it was the good kind of nervous, you know what I mean? And, he totally left behind the napkin with my phone number," Sho pouted.

"What a pity... Maybe, he's trying to play hard to get?" Jun suggested before he decided to tease his friend just a little more. "Or, he's just not interested in men... or you."

"Hm... I'm not sure, I get those vibes," Sho said after considering the option for a painful second.

"The same vibes you got from Keiko before she told you she's going to marry Daigo?" the chef couldn't hold back, even if he didn't want to dig up this topic. Sometimes, his mouth was faster than his brain.

Sho gave him _that_ look. "That was mean, Jun."

"I'm sorry," Jun replied, folding his hands in an apologetic gesture.

"Oh well," Sho shrugged, returning to his cheerful mood in an instant. "Keiko and I just weren’t meant to be. She's happy now, and I'm over it. But this young man..." He sighed, and the love-struck expression on his face was impossible to ignore.

"Take this as an observation, but you have a weird habit of falling in love with people at first sight, Sho," Jun said, not sure if he would be helpful in any way.

"It's the _second_ time I saw him," Sho immediately corrected. "In fact, I already saw him and Aiba a few days ago when they were looking into the restaurant early in the morning."

Jun arched an eyebrow. "Did you already find him cute back then?"

"Well…"

"Counts as first sight, then," the young chef chuckled. "Anyway, maybe you should try getting to know them better first, before hitting on people."

"But… I just _know_ he must be the right one," Sho replied, fisting his hand in front of his chest to show his conviction. Sometimes, Jun really admired him for this character trait. "Maybe it's fate!"

"Like the one time you thought it was fate when you told me about... what's her face, Maki, who then broke up with you after three weeks and started dating your professor?" Jun shot back.

"Apparently, I wasn't lucky with women in the past, I get it," Sho replied with a hinted roll of his eyes.

"Neither with men, think about that Okada guy," his friend kept on. "I forgot his problem, though… your overwhelming devotion?"

"Thanks for the reminder."

"I am sorry, Sho," Jun smiled, apologetically. "Really, I wish you good luck with your love life and I'm sure you make a great boyfriend. I just want you to be a bit more careful with who you fall in love with. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, thanks Jun," Sho answered. "But don't worry, you know, I am not one who gives up that easily!"

"That's good…," Jun flashed Sho another smile, but he could feel it fading within a second, worry spreading in his mind as he thought about Ninomiya and Sho's failed flirting attempt.

Of course, Sho picked up on the swing of mood. "Is everything OK?"

"Don't get me wrong," Jun continued and he felt like his whole facade was cracking and starting to crumble. It wasn't like he cared about his past, it wasn't like he cared if he had known that Aiba and Ninomiya guy, but seeing how involved his friend was in the situation regarding those two already, he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. "I'm rooting for you, really… It's just… it feels a bit strange... I'm supposed to know that guy, but I don't remember him at all. He could be an idiot, or an asshole and I wouldn't even be able to warn you."

"Hm," Sho seemed to think about his friend's comment for a bit. "He may be a bit grumpy, but I doubt he's an asshole... And as you said, since you were here, a lot has changed. Even if you remember Ninomiya, it doesn't mean that he's still the same guy from before. I appreciate your consideration, Jun, but don't worry about me. Worry about yourself. You'll see, the longer you stay here, higher are the chances you will remember your past."

Damned, Jun thought, now, what looked like a nice successful walk around the whole topic, was over as Sho – as so often – had somehow managed to close the circle again. Somehow, that man was a master of conversation, and Jun still had a hard time to get how he did that.

"I don't even know if I really want that," he replied in all honesty, knowing that it was not possible to run away from the topic any longer. "I mean, what could the advantage of that be?"

"Maybe you'd be less cynical and a bit happier?" Sho smirked at his friend.

"Was that hidden criticism?"

"You know, I like your cynical side. But I like your happy side more," the older man smiled, sincerely.

"I don't miss my past," Jun said, repeating those words for the umpteenth time.

"But maybe your past misses you?"

"If you are referring to that Aiba and Ninomiya guy again, seriously, I have no idea who they are and how we connect," he sighed. "Correction, _connected_. And that's totally fine for me. If you want to hit on Ninomiya, go ahead, but please, keep me out of this."

"We _really_ should go and try finding out more," Sho tried one last time, making puppy eyes at his friend.

"You _really_ just want to get closer to your new flame, don't you?" Jun shot back, trying his best to ignore Sho's pleading look.

"Come on Jun, it wouldn't hurt. Let's go visit the izakaya together!" Sho suggested, excitedly. "They must still be open at this hour, I think so if we go back now... at least there should be time left for one drink."

"Not tonight," Jun replied and then pointed his hand at the house they were approaching. "Look, we're home!"

"Then tomorrow."

"Sho…"

"OK, no pressure," Sho gave in, finally pulling out the keys to their apartment complex to unlock the door and let them inside with a smirk on his face. "But I'll take it as a _soon_."

 

\- + TBC + -


	4. Chapter 3

It was early in the morning when Jun set foot on the grounds of the shopping district, which held the morning market. The market was offering the most freshly delivered vegetables in town, the most freshly caught fish, right from the ocean, and whatever a chef's heart could wish for when it came to shopping for ingredients for the long upcoming day in the restaurant.

Jun stopped after just a few steps, though, in order to take in the view over countless colourful booths and shops and the hustle and bustle between them. It was admittedly a breath-taking scenery, but he would very much appreciate it, if all those voices from all those people greeting each other and wishing good mornings were just a little quieter, and the strong smell of the fresh fish just a bit less intense. The young man had no problem with raw meat or fish – how could he, considering his job – but early in the morning he was just too sensitive to everything, and he rather felt sick to the stomach than ready to dive into the business, which now would become part of his daily ritual. 

Why was it again that he volunteered to go to the morning market today? Ah, right, because what happened with Sho and the groceries.

Since Sho was the complete opposite of Jun in the morning, read capable of making decisions and interacting with people, the two men had decided that Sho would be the one in charge of shopping in the morning in order to ensure that they would have the best possible ingredients for their restaurant. Jun trusted him completely with this, as his friend knew _exactly_ that Jun wanted only high-quality ingredients for his cooking. Sho had just went way over board with the amount of things he bought, simply excusing that with a "Sorry, I was hungry".

There, Jun used to think his long-time friend was reliable and trustworthy when it came to money, that he was even a bit too stingy sometimes, if they were as he called "on a budget", and that he would never buy too much stuff if it was not actually needed. However, it seemed like Jun had extremely underestimated Sho's appetite and even after giving Sho the chance to learn from his mistakes for several days, it proved to be hopeless.

Thus, now, Jun decided to try and go by himself in order to buy the right things, and more importantly, the right _amount_ of things he would actually need for cooking, so that nothing would go to waste.

The young man sighed deeply.

If he wasn't just so freaking tired. And in such a terrible mood because of that... He should have at least brought his music with him to try waking him up and blend out all those noises, but – of course – as sleepy as he was, he just left his MP3 player at home. Well done.

Jun closed his eyes for a few seconds and tried to get himself used to the acoustic level around him, as well as to the mix of different strong smells. Those were all just fresh, delicious ingredients, the best food the town had to offer, and there was nothing to feel sick about, he tried to remind himself. He took a deep breath, and was already starting to adjust a little better to the situation, when suddenly -

"Jun!" a loud cheerful voice cut in and startled him.

Jun's eyes snapped open when he realized who had called out at him just now.

"Good morning!"

"Gosh," Jun exhaled loudly, when he saw a young man jogging towards him, smiling and waving like an excited child, dressed in casual clothes and a light jacket, and looking far more awake than Jun would ever be at such an early hour. It was Aiba Masaki, the man he was supposed to know, but didn't. It felt just weird being greeted by him so joyfully and honestly, it was the last thing Jun wanted to deal with so early in the morning. "You surprised me..."

"I'm sorry," Aiba said, his voice lowered when he stopped right next to Jun, his smile still on, almost as blinding as the sun. "That wasn't my intention... Nice to meet you here, Jun."

Jun didn't really know how to reply to this. Meeting this man _really_ confused him and he actually hoped not to meet him again too soon, despite Sho telling him that it would be important to talk to him, in order to find out more about his past. Jun still needed more time. To process all of this, to prepare mentally, and to just not get overwhelmed and stressed out.

There was a small awkward silence between him and the other man. Jun was trying hard to find a way to deal with the current situation, and Aiba was just standing there and flashing him a criminally happy smile disregarding the early hour, spreading an aura of _being just an old friend you randomly ran into_. It was just _so_ weird...

" _Please_ , could you not call me so familiarly? I already _told_ you that I do not know you," Jun finally said in an unnerved tone, breaking the silence. "It feels strange."

Jun meant what he said. However, seeing Aiba's radiating smile fading within a second after hearing Jun speak to him like that, made him think that he probably should have tried to sound less annoyed as he did. He already felt sorry for the man in front of him. Jun cursed at himself and his grumpy morning personality.

"You... _really_ don't remember me, right?" Aiba then asked in a low voice, looking straight into Jun's eyes. "Not our days at school, or when we played together with Nino and everything?"

There was disappointment in Aiba's eyes, as well as a hint of sadness, and even if Jun was convinced that just a minute before he rather preferred not having to do anything with that person, for a first time in a long while, Jun felt a sting of guilt in his heart for not remembering.

"I'm sorry," he murmured while ruffling his hair, trying to save what could be saved in this awkward situation. "I really don't. But... I didn't intend to sound so... mean just now."

It was obvious that Aiba had to try hard to find back his smile, and he did, even if it turned out a little crooked, when he finally responded.

"No, I am the one who is sorry," Aiba chuckled. "You must think I'm crazy, running up to you just like that... uhm... So what should I call you then," he seemed seriously to wonder. "Matsumoto... uhm... -san?"

Jun frowned, wondering. Yes, he had told Aiba not to call him by his given name, as it really felt awkward to be called that by a stranger – at least someone who was a stranger to _him_ , even if that stranger had insisted on knowing Jun for years already. For Jun, it was different. In his case, there were only two encounters with this man in his whole life, both of which happened during the last few days. One time, when that weird man had clumsily dropped something in front of a convenience store and for the second time, when Aiba and his friend Ninomiya visited Jun and Sho's restaurant on the second day after their opening. Since then, they still didn't have the chance to talk again to each other, for which Jun was actually grateful for. This whole thing still felt too strange... he wasn't ready. However, seeing the man struggling so much by calling him by his last name and even hesitating on which honorific he should use to address him, was kind of making him feel even more guilty.

"I guess, Matsumoto without any honorific is just fine for now," Jun finally added after another awkward second, not even daring to look at the other man.

It was a little strange, but considering the situation and assuming that this man really knew him for years, it would sound stupid to insist on the usage of honorifics, Jun decided. He didn't need to make this even more awkward than it already was.

"So Matsumoto it is," Aiba repeated, as if he still had to adjust to the sound of the name, but his voice sounded quite a bit happier again, which strangely made Jun feel relieved.

Then, Jun started panicking again. Now that things were kind of cleared up between them, what would happen next? Would Aiba bombard him with questions, and old stories and whatever that apparently had connected them in their past – if this was even true – and expect Jun to make "Oh" and "Ah" and remember every silly little detail? Because he simply could not. It wasn't that easy!

Aiba took a deep breath, and Jun was so not ready to see his current fears coming true, but instead, Aiba just jumped right in front of him and reached out his hand towards Jun, with a determined expression on his face. Jun raised his eyebrows in confusion. The other man didn't hesitate for long though, before fishing for Jun's hand for a firm handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Matsumoto, I hope we can get along well," the man said, smiling widely, and this time, Jun could feel that it was a sincere smile. "You can call me however you want. Aiba or Masaki, or even Aiba-chan. I don't mind, choose whatever you feel comfortable with!"

Jun hesitated for a bit, considering his options and trying each of them in his head, wondering, if he used to call this man _Aiba-chan_ , when they were kids, until he settled on one.

"I'll go with Aiba for the time being, then. Nice to meet you too, I guess," he replied, nodding slightly at the other man, who was nibbling on his lower lips, but didn't lose his cheerful expression.

"I didn't expect to meet you here, have you visited the market these past few days too?" Aiba asked, curiously but not too intrusively, and Jun quickly caught up with his question and the motivation behind it.

"Ah, no, my business partner, Sakurai, has been taking this task until today," the young man started to explain. "But I figured, he was wasting a bit too much money by buying too many groceries that I couldn't use up properly, so I decided to come here myself. Although I have to admit, I would prefer staying in bed for a little longer. I'm not an early bird."

"I see," Aiba nodded, an understanding expression on his face.

He then let his eyes wander all over Jun, from head to toes, and ended up locking eyes with him again, a smirk on his face. Jun frowned, wondering if he said something too awkward. Why the hell was he even giving away so many unnecessary details to this apparently not-so-unfamiliar stranger, he wondered. Wasn't this just weird?

It was Aiba then who reacted even weirder, turning around, seemingly ready to leave, but not before cheerfully telling Jun to, "Wait here, I'll be right back!"

Confused, Jun could do nothing but stare after the young man, who dashed off and vanished between some nearby booths, leaving Jun behind. The young man crossed his arms, confusion still clouding his head, and after actually following Aiba's order and waiting for a couple of minutes, Jun started thinking how stupid all this was and considered getting away from here as fast as he possibly could. But strangely enough, there was something holding him back. It was the sense of guilt and the strange wish of not wanting to disappoint the other man even more than what he must be doing already, even if technically all of this wasn't even his fault.

In the end, Aiba returned so quickly to Jun that the young man couldn't even finish his thoughts.

"Here you go, but watch it, it's hot!" Aiba said, while pushing a paper cup into Jun's direction.

Surprised, the young man took the offered drink into his own hand and the closer he brought it to his face, the stronger he could smell the sweet scent of hot chocolate, mixed with coffee and at hint of... mint? Questioning, he looked at Aiba, who was again smiling from one ear to the other.

"I swear, this is the most delicious coffee you can find on this whole market. No, in the whole town!" he corrected himself, excitedly.

"Uhm... thank you," Jun replied, nodding slightly, once more taking in the interesting combination of smells. "What exactly is this?" he asked, a little skeptic.

"It's basically hot chocolate with one expresso and peppermint syrup. It wakes you up and clears your head. You should try it, it works wonders."

Jun did as he was told, putting his lips against the edge of the paper cup to take a sip, and he lifted his eyebrows in surprise at the taste that spread in his mouth. The texture resembled melting chocolate, thick and rich of flavour, with a not too prominent but definitely present shot of strong coffee that came afterwards and ran down his throat smoothly, as well as the hint of peppermint which seemed to rise straight into his brain. The combination of flavours was something unknown to him, which he almost found incredible, considering how far and how much he had travelled during the last years, but it convinced him on the spot and truly awakened his spirits instantly, after the first sip.

"Oh my Gosh, this is like magic," Jun whispered religiously behind the paper cup he only abandoned shortly, just to come back for another sip right away. This was really incredible. And so delicious...

"I know, right?" Aiba replied, excited, before his happy smile turned into something that resembled pride. "It's my special order, you know?"

Jun frowned. "You mean, you created this combination?"

"Basically," Aiba shrugged, but it was still visible that he was actually really proud about this. Jun couldn't help but smile.

"Amazing," he said, and he meant it.

Aiba smiled back, and somehow, it made Jun feel a bit warmer and even more awake.

In the end, Aiba offered to guide Jun around and show him all his favourite booths, as apparently, he was doing the morning shopping for the izakaya he was working in (together with his family and with Nino – that Ninomiya guy Sho had laid his eyes on) as Aiba explained. Jun was tempted to decline the offer, but the other man insisted on helping, and so, the chef had no other choice than following Aiba. That guy was just too convincing, somehow and wouldn't it be impolite to dump someone who had just bought him the most delicious hot drink in existence?

Jun quickly learned that being as cheerful and friendly as Aiba definitely paid off when it came to talking and haggling with the salespeople on the market. The young man seemed to be famous, and it was sheer incredible how positive people reacted to him. Everyone seemed to know him, everyone seemed to _love_ him. The elderly couple handling a small but cute vegetable and fruits booth in one of the side streets, almost unnoticed when strolling through the main street of the morning market, had already pre-packed what Aiba would need for the day.

The lady even added another paper bag filled with some extra fruits and berries as a bonus for Aiba to his box of purchases, throwing him a wink and making him promise he would share those with Nino. In the end, Jun bought quite a bit of stuff there too, convinced by Aiba that it was the _best place_ to get your fresh supplies in town. He filled up a whole wooden box, and surprisingly, he also ended up receiving some extra apples, "Because Aiba-chan's friends are our friends", as the lady told him with a smile. Jun promised to come back.

"I guess you also need some fresh fish, don't you?" Aiba asked, after they had picked some other supplies such as flour, rice, fresh eggs from an organic farm just a bit outside of the city, and more.

Jun nodded. Of course, he would need fresh fish, his creative sushi, as Sho used to call it, was immensely popular, especially the one with cucumber-tuna topping that resembled a slice of watermelon, as well as his fried ebi pizza tower, which Aiba had actually tried already, as he told Jun excitedly.

"I know the best place to get some cheap ones," Aiba grinned, gesturing Jun to follow him.

"Wait," Jun intervened, raising an eyebrow before he set straight, "I am looking for the best quality, not the cheapest fish."

Aiba smiled. "Of course, I know that. The place I'm talking about has the best quality _and_ price. Trust me!"

Still, Jun was a little skeptic. He knew how things worked in this world. The lower the price, the lower the quality. But Aiba looked very convinced of his own words, and so far, he had indeed showed Jun some really good stuff, so he should at least give his recommendation a chance, right?

According to Aiba, they would have to walk a little further, until the other end of the market, which would get a bit exhausting, considering the amount of things they were already carrying. With this in mind, Aiba made them to stop at another shop which offered self-brewed sake. He bought a huge bottle, and kindly asked, if he and Jun could leave their stuff there for a while ("like usual"!) before coming to pick it up later. The owner, a friendly old man wearing glasses and a blue-white patterned bandana just nodded with a friendly smile and waved at them when Aiba grinned at Jun, asking him to follow.

Freed from the weight, the two men strolled down the main street of the morning market, with Aiba greeting and getting greeted in return by more people, sometimes even stopping for a minute for a little chat. Of course, he didn't forget to introduce Jun, who was a bit embarrassed first, as he was not that interested in chit chat with strangers actually, but just as before, it quickly showed that the friendliness paid off and so Jun decided that he could actually learn something from Aiba in this respect. Maybe, he should try jumping over his own shadow and follow Aiba’s example from now on.

They arrived at the end of the market just a few minutes later, the street leading them to a small booth right in front of the bay, in which the river ended behind the row of houses and shops on the right. There were the sounds of seagulls, and the smell of fish – not too strong, which indicated that it must be really fresh from the sea.

"Good morning, Aiba-kun!" the owner of the shop, a middle-aged man, already called out, cheerfully.

"Miyake-san, good morning!" Aiba replied, no less cheerful.

"You brought a friend?" the man immediately asked, when noticing Jun, who was a step behind Aiba, a bit critical about the whole thing.

The booth was really small, and it displayed – admittedly very good looking - fish at the front, of course, however, there was not that much being offered, and taking in the setup of the shop and spotting only a few more cooling boxes in the back, he assumed that there was not that much replenishment.

"This is Matsumoto Jun," Aiba introduced the young man to the owner of the shop. "He just opened up the new restaurant on my street, you heard about it, I guess?"

"Oh, the one with that unique kind of food? Nice to meet you," the man said, looking at Jun, who nodded in response to the greeting. "I indeed heard of it – only good things, of course."

"Thank you," Jun replied.

"This is Miyake-san," Aiba explained, smiling. "He has the best fish here, because he catches every single one of them with a huge amount of passion."

When Miyake started to explain today's choice, Jun took the chance to take a closer look at the offered goods. His eyes were as used to separating good from bad fish, as Aiba's must be, if he was working in an izakaya, so if Aiba considered this as good, it must be. And it was, according to Jun's observation. Very good. However, what made him startled, was the price. He blinked in disbelief when he read the price tags of the offered tuna. Yes, Aiba had said, it was cheap, however, this was just not possible.

Without even thinking further, Jun quickly reached his hand out at Aiba's sleeve, tugging at it to get the other man's attention, who was already ordering a big portion of shrimps and salmon. Slightly confused, Aiba looked at the young man, who just stared at him and nodded quickly, to indicate that he should follow him. Jun took a few steps away from the booth and turned around, his hand still linked to Aiba's sleeve, which he immediately let go when he noticed that he was still holding onto it. He cleared his throat, trying to play over the situation. Aiba still looked at him, questioning. 

"Sorry but... how is it possible that their fish is so cheap?" Jun asked in almost a whisper, making sure that Miyake could not hear him. "Isn't that strange?"

Aiba chuckled shortly, stopping immediately when Jun slightly bumped his elbow into the man's side to stop him from being loud. Confused, Jun frowned at Aiba, who then flashed him a smile and leaned a bit closer, keeping their voices low. Jun held his breath, when he realized that he was able to take in the scent of Aiba's aftershave from that distance, and quickly tried to brush away the random thought. Even more confusing though, was the feel of Aiba's warm breath next to his ear. It awkwardly triggered a somehow pleasant shiver running down Jun's back. He tried his best to ignore it.

"I know what you mean, I couldn't believe it either in the beginning," Aiba started. "But the fact is that the Miyakes are a wealthy family. Miyake-san owns a very successful business, and fishing is only a hobby for him. So he might not have the widest range to offer, sometimes I have to get a specific kind of fish from somewhere else, but it's always fresh and delicious. And since he doesn't have to rely on this business, it's not expensive. He's just selling the fish he doesn't need for himself, at a _very_ reasonable price, if you ask me. Also, Ohno-san – you know, the artist – likes fishing too as a hobby and sometimes borrows one of Miyake-san's boats for a trip. If he catches something, he gives them to the Miyakes in exchange. He himself doesn't cook, anyway."

"I see... that's indeed...," Jun wanted to say _too good to be true_ , but decided on, "Really lucky for the restaurants nearby."

Aiba flashed him another one of his cheerful smiles. "And because I'm always early, I have the best choice out of all. Well, you too, now, if you plan to buy from them. If you want my recommendation, you should! They sell out quite fast," Aiba said, before he added something more. “Oh, and I forgot to mention, the best thing is, Miyake-san's nephew is doing delivery, so no more carrying if you don't have any hands free."

He ironically lifted his at the moment empty hands, as he had left the stuff at the sake shop, but Jun smiled. He got the idea.

"That's indeed useful," he said, nodding appreciatingly.

"And it doesn't cost much, it's just a 200 yen more and they will come over with the fish stored in an ice box at whatever time you prefer," Aiba added, before he turned back to the booth and finished his order. "Miyake-san, please bring this order around nine o'clock, if possible."

"Sure, Aiba-kun, no problem, I'll send Ken over then," the man behind the small counter replied, starting to pack his customer's choice of fish into one of the already prepared cooling boxes that was filled with ice and adding a note on top of it, bearing Aiba's name.

"Great!"

"And you, young man?" Miyake asked, turning to Jun, who had returned to Aiba's side, and was again eyeing the offer. "Would you like to use our delivery service too?"

Jun was indeed tempted to choose something. "I'm considering it."

"Take your time to decide," the man smiled at him.

Actually, Jun was almost convinced to take some of the fish and, so he did not hesitate too long before placing his order and asking for delivery as well.

It didn't take long before Aiba and Jun had their other purchases back in their hands, each of them carrying about two wooden boxes of fresh ingredients for each of their restaurants, and were walking back all the way, through the market street, and then back to their own part of the shopping district. Jun had expected this part of work to be the most annoying and exhausting, considering his usual mental and physical tiredness in the morning. However, with Aiba walking right next to him and talking about everything under the sun, spreading his incredible positive energy, which never seemed to ebb away, made the task surprisingly bearable, and even fun.

Jun appreciated that Aiba considerably chose topics that weren't really touching on their alleged joint past, but instead talked about very diverse things, stuff he heard on the news, an upcoming movie he was excited about, his current favourite song, or recommending nice shops from the area to him. He even shared a few information about his friend Nino (who he apparently wanted to set up with Sho, much to Jun's amusement as well as relief, maybe, this time his friend would be a bit luckier with his chosen one?) and asked Jun about his favourite TV-shows. It even turned out that Aiba liked about the same comedians as Jun, which was another plus point to the whole situation. Yes, Jun definitely had to admit that even if he never expected this, in the end, the unexpected – and even if in the beginning it was unappreciated – meeting with Aiba this morning had turned into something very pleasant. 

They parted ways in front of Jun's restaurant in a very good mood, with the promise to meet again next morning for another shopping tour of the morning market in their pockets. Even if Jun couldn't pinpoint yet, _why exactly_ , somehow, he was already looking forward to it. It had been fun walking with Aiba through that part of town, getting to know all these people through him, experiencing the market for the first time in a very positive way, and hopefully also leaving a positive impression on its inhabitants, thanks to Aiba's cheerful way of introducing Jun to all and each salespeople so enthusiastically. This could have turned out so much worse, Jun didn't even want to imagine. Who would have thought that the grumpy, sleepy guy he was in the early morning, would be a happy, smiling man by now? And all this was just thanks to Aiba. Maybe, even if he was not able to remember him, even if at first, he was not even the tiniest little bit interested in getting to know him better, they would be able to actually become friends.

"I'm back!" Jun chimed, when he entered the restaurant not even fifteen minutes later.

"Good morning!" Sho, who was already preparing the tables in the front for opening replied, whirling around until he was standing right in front of his friend. He was already dressed up in his waiter's uniform, and with his sorrowfully furrowed eyebrows, he looked dead serious. "So how was it? You didn't meet any accident by tripping over something? Didn't fall asleep over buying something?"

"It's fine Sho, don't worry," Jun chuckled, even if he knew that the situations Sho mentioned weren't as funny as they sounded – rather already experienced -, before he walked on to the kitchen isle at the back of the restaurant to place the two heavy boxes he was carrying onto the working surface. "I had the most delicious and effective coffee ever, I swear. I found everything we need, as you see, ah, and the fish is being delivered in about one or two hours."

Curious, Sho had followed his friend, who was now unpacking the groceries he bought. "Delivered? Here? I didn't know they offer such service."

"Yep, it was a secret tip, there's a small but really great fish shop and they even deliver their goods for a small charge of just 200 yen extra, which isn't much considering their cheap prices," Jun started babbling, while he divided the groceries into categories and pushed some things into Sho's hands, asking him to store them away, which Sho obliged, turning around to put a fresh bottle of fine olive oil into the back-up storage. Then, as if he had almost forgotten to mention, Jun continued, "Ah, and Sho, we're invited for tonight."

"What?" his friend turned around, now empty handed and again wearing a frown on his face.

Jun had to admit that it was kind of fun to see Sho so puzzled. He probably did not expect Jun to talk at all, since it was still early in the morning, and now he just gave him an almost full report about what happened at the market.

"After we closed the restaurant, at Aiba's izakaya," Jun said, before adding with a smug grin, "Dress up, if you want to impress Nino."

"Nino?" Sho frowned, confused, before realization hit him. "You mean Ninomiya?"

"Who else?"

"You call him _Nino_?!" Sho asked, even more confused. "What happened?!"

"Nothing," Jun shrugged, trying to keep his casual attitude in front of his friend. "I just met Aiba at the morning market and he referred to him as Nino."

"You met Aiba?" Sho asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I didn't expect it either but then he showed me around, and we talked for a while..."

Sho stepped in front of Jun, staring at his business partner. "And?"

"We did not talk about our childhood, if that's what you're referring to," Jun rolled his eyes before walking around his friend in order to start washing the fresh vegetables. "We talked about food," he sighed, seeing Sho's slightly disappointed face. "Give me some more time, OK?"

"OK, sure," Sho replied, nodding. "It's a first step, that's good! So, tonight, izakaya. Maybe, we can find out something then... I mean, if you want to try."

For a second, Jun hesitated, but then, he actually started to consider this option.

"...Maybe. Let's see."

"Great," Sho smiled widely, just to lose his smile right away when he realized something. He looked at his friend, completely serious. "OK, Jun, I think I need to go pick a proper outfit for later. I mean, I can't go there in my uniform, and I can't show myself with the baggy sweater I came in this morning. I'll be back as soon as possible and finish setting up everything, I promise."

Jun chuckled amused, already picturing his friend creating a huge chaos in front of his wardrobe at home in order to find the perfect outfit for tonight. He considered telling his friend, that Aiba – prepared another few hints to be forwarded for Sho in order to impress Nino – had told Jun that Nino was actually not someone who gave that much weight on appearance. However, this was just too funny at the moment.

"Alright, but don't overdo it, and be back in at most an hour," Jun said, pretending to be strict.

"I'll give my best!" Sho yelled from the entrance door before he was gone.

\- - + - -

Night time couldn't come faster today, if someone asked Aiba. Ever since his shopping tour with Jun at the market this morning, Aiba just couldn't wait to see the other man again. The exciting tingle he felt throughout his whole body on this anticipation made Aiba work even faster than usual, and once in a while, he was even humming some cheesy love songs while cooking, his heart wallowing in ideas of what the future might bring for him and Jun.

Besides this tiny little voice in his head that told him that it was just _impossible_ that Jun really forgot everything about their common past, there was also another voice in his mind, yelling at him. Yelling at him, that this was his chance to shine, that this was his chance to get to know Jun once again, and to make him interested in him, and to make him his, once and for all.

OK, probably, it was silly, and much too early to hope for anything to happen between them, but dreaming was allowed, wasn't it?

Actually, Nino had accused Aiba of "giving up on his dream" – referring to the one he shared with Jun during their childhood, however, for Aiba, it was simply that Plan A did not quite work out as planned. This did not mean though that Plan B was a so much worse option. Although he and Jun had not achieved their dream together, but separately, consequently it did not mean that this was the end of the world.

Just being able to be with Jun, at the same time in the same spot in this whole big world, once more, was a miracle, and Aiba should be doomed if he didn't make the best out of it.

He still could not know where this would bring him and Jun, but of course, Aiba would be thrilled, if the _love story_ featuring him and Jun would finally get a sequel. When Jun left town after Aiba had kissed him for the first time, years ago, both had been oblivious on how things would develop from that point. Unexpectedly, their story had been put on hiatus, things had happened, things had changed, and now they were back to zero, but maybe, this wasn't a bad thing.

It really wasn't like Aiba was craving love just for love's sake. Ever since a short experimental phase years ago, when he was still trying to forget about Jun – unsuccessfully – Aiba had decided to wait and now Jun was back, just like Aiba's feelings. They were adults now, and Jun had grown into an extremely handsome man with a fascinating personality, as far as Aiba could judge. Who could actually blame Aiba for falling for that man all over again?

Aiba had to admit that it had been quite a shocking moment when in the morning, Jun asked him not to address him by his given name. And indeed, Aiba had to push back his joy over being able to meet Jun again, in order to make space for their current reality. A reality, in which Jun and he were more or less kind of strangers. But Aiba had collected himself quite fast, reminding himself, that he first had to accept things the way they were, in order to make them change. And he could proudly say that he indeed managed to change the situation between him and Jun quite a lot already, within the time span of only a day.

They were almost strangers in the morning, with Jun being rather repellent towards him. But Jun had also warmed up unexpectedly quickly in Aiba's presence. At the end of their shopping tour they even had exchanged numbers, which Aiba counted as a huge success.

Noticing, that the man's number differed from the old one Aiba still saved as "Jun" in his phone, Aiba swore to himself that he would make sure to keep that new number safe forever. The two of them quickly connected via LINE, and while Aiba spent the time before midday pondering over what kind of message (or sticker) he should sent Jun in order to start a conversation, in the end, Jun had texted him first! Including an adorable Rilakkuma sticker, as he announced that Sakurai and himself would come and pay the izakaya a visit later, following Aiba's invitation and to carry out his and Aiba's "plan".

In fact, hearing Jun talking about Sakurai's failed love stories and how much the chef wanted his friend to finally find love, immediately made Aiba want to help out. Thus, he and Jun already started to make plans on how they were going to provide Sakurai with another chance to meet and hit on Nino, who he apparently had fallen in love with indeed, head over heels.

Sakurai seemed to be a cheerful and sincere guy – even with a bit of a quirky flirting style - and Aiba knew that if Sakurai was the person Jun chose to be close friends with for the last few years, he could only be a good guy. Also, whilst Nino might be a hard nut to crack, it didn't mean that he wasn't capable of holding a lot of affection, love and loyalty within his heart. He usually hid it very well, and probably needed a little more time and a loving push in the back to get involved with someone, but once Sakurai managed to find a way into Nino's heart, both of them would probably become very happy.

Aiba definitely didn't consider things as hopeless and with Jun on board, he was sure they would be able to set their two friends up. With this in mind, Aiba offered the izakaya as their stage to bring the two men together and see if he and Jun could be of any help.

So, if everything would go according to plan, this evening there would be two birds killed with one stone – although Aiba hated this saying due to its imaginative violence. First, he and Jun would try to get Sho and Nino together, and second, he and Jun would be able to talk, just by themselves, to get to know each other better, again. He was really looking forward to that.

\- - + - -

Time flew by, as it was a busy evening at the izakaya. It had become late, and usually, the izakaya would be quiet by now, as most people did not want to go to bed too late, especially with a working day coming up. However, contradicting the norm, of course, today there was still a hard core group of guests sitting at the bar, consisting of Aiba and Nino's friends from the flower shop next door, Yuriko and Toma (who was already a little drunk and concentrating deeply to build a tower of cards with Nino's trump set that he borrowed), as well as Ohno and his assistant Ishihara.

The latter tried hard to convince the artist to accept a requested interview that he received from a famous art magazine, however, Ohno's attention was much more dedicated to a bowl of Aiba's freshly made special ramen, much to the chef's delight, of course. Aiba's parents just called it a day and went up to bed, wishing everyone a good night, and so the atmosphere rather resembled one of a reunion of friends than a customer – service situation.

Aiba smiled while he was grilling some more yakitori for Yuriko. This was, how he enjoyed his job the most.

Nino was about to start cleaning up some of the empty tables in the front, when finally, the jingle at the entrance announced more– probably their last – guests for the day. Aiba's head shot up, and his heart rate too, when indeed he spotted Jun entering the izakaya, followed by Sakurai.

The young man looked around a bit insecurely, and then nodded towards Nino, who froze in his movement, staring at their new guests. Aiba had not warned his friend about the two men's visit. He didn't want him to flee upstairs even before they arrived.

"Aiba-chan, the chicken, the chicken!" Yuriko pointed out, snapping her fingers in front of Aiba's face, who quickly pulled himself together and breaking away from the sight of Jun, to focus back on the food in front of him.

He finished grilling the meat – getting it done perfectly, of course – and placed it on top of a small plate in front of Yuriko for her to enjoy, and then looked back at the entrance, waving at Jun, who flashed him a smile when he spotted him, approaching the bar.

Aiba almost burst into laughter when he then saw Sakurai walking up behind Jun, all dressed up in a neat suit, his hair styled sideway, revealing his slight undercut on the exposed side, and holding loosely a single yellow rose wrapped up in cellophane tied with a red ribbon, giving off a pretty cool image. Aiba's almost-snort made the other guests at the bar curiously turn around too, to investigate the newcomers. He nearly lost it for real, when Yuriko's surprised "oh" at the sight of Sakurai gave Aiba enough information to reason that the man must have been customer at the woman's shop sometime during the day, in order to get that exact flower.

Nino was still standing there, half-bent over a table, a wet cloth in his one hand to wipe the surface, and his disbelieving look darted at Sakurai, who was wearing an alluring smile on his face made a few steps forward to the other man, shamelessly taking in his appearance.

"Good evening, Beautiful," Sho said in a low voice, and Aiba could swear that Nino just twitched in shock at being called that, _again_. "Wow, you _are_ wearing a cute uniform... I must say, blue really suits you," the man said, obviously appreciating the izakaya's uniform, consisting of a dark blue yukata-like top shirt paired with matching long pants and a grey and light green patterned short apron wrapped around the waist, with enough pockets to store away a notepad, pens and a small towel.

Quickly looking down on himself, Nino finally moved, his posture changing a bit, as if he wanted to hide, and then there was it again, that light blush on his face. Aiba couldn't help but throw Jun a meaningful grin, who mirrored the same expression before turning his head again to witness the rest of the scene.

"I've got a present for you, please accept it," Sakurai continued, taking another step towards the young man in front of him, and finally reached out the yellow rose towards him with a charming smile on his face before adding, "It means _affection_ in the language of flowers."

Nino continued staring at the man in front of him, for another few awkward seconds, seemingly at a loss of words, before he took a deep breath and then finally parted his lips, causing Sakurai to risk hoping for a nice greeting, but instead blowing him away with a bitchy comment.

"How can you even feel affection towards me, you don't even know me!" Nino barked, crossing his arms in front of his chest, aversively, frowning at the other man as if he had gone completely crazy.

Luckily, Sakurai didn't let Nino get him down, and instead replied in all honesty, and with an enviable amount of self-confidence, "I might not know you yet, but I want to change that!"

"You're incredible...," Nino just replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sakurai smirked. "May I take that as a compliment?"

"Hell, no!" Nino exploded.

However, he then reached out his hand to snatch the offered flower from Sakurai's hand. He turned around facing Aiba and the others, dropping his look towards the floor in conspicuous embarrassment. His face was flushed red when he hurried towards the izakaya's bar counter, and started searching for a glass tall enough to fill it with water and put the flower into it, after freeing it from the plastic wrapping in fast, almost aggressive movements.

In the meantime, Sakurai followed and taken place next to Jun, who had already chosen an empty seat in front of the bar. While Aiba was greeting him with a friendly smile and handed him the same drink and snack menu that he had already given to Jun, as well as a small tray with a warm wet hand towel, Sakurai leaned a little forward, as if to consult Aiba about the situation.

"He didn't throw it away...," the man said, trying to keep his voice low. "Is that a good sign?"

Yuriko, just a few seats further, chuckled, catching Sakurai's attention before she smiled at him, apologetically. "Since I'm the one owning the flower shop next door, and he knows I'd kill him if he threw away a poor flower, so don't interpret too much into it."

"Ah, I remember you, thanks for your recommendation today," Sakurai replied, greeting the young woman with a nod, who lifted her glass of sake to toast the man. "But damned... I planned to impress him..."

"Your entrance was indeed impressive, if you ask me," Aiba reassured him, laughing. "And if I remember correctly, I think it's the first time Nino received flowers from someone, right, Nino?"

"Who cares...," Nino grumped, running back to the tables in the front in order to continue his task of cleaning them.

When Sakurai got up from his seat and approached the young man, obviously wanting to speak to him again, Nino just threw him a strict look and fled back to Aiba's side behind the counter and searched for something else to occupy his fidgety fingers with. Aiba chuckled, and reached his hand to ruffle through Nino's hair, just to be pushed away slightly by him, earning an annoyed glance.

"Sakurai won't bite, so don't be so shy, Nino," Aiba said.

"I'd rather call that cold than shy," Jun murmured challenging, earning an icy glare from Nino but before he could add something more, someone else cut in.

"Ninomiya-kun, if I may give you just one piece of advice," Ishihara sighed loudly, standing up from her seat, reaching her hand over the counter to pat Nino's shoulder, and giving him a look mixed with bitterness and knowledge. "If someone gives you flowers, you better take them and be grateful. It probably won't happen ever again."

"Why do I suddenly feel indirectly criticized?" Ohno wondered quietly, furrowing his eyebrows at Aiba, who just shrugged with a grin on his face.

"We're going, it's late already!" Ishihara then declared, letting go off Nino and turning back to the seat to search her purse for her wallet.

However, when she wanted to turn around and hand the money over to Aiba, she got stopped suddenly by Ohno, who unexpectedly spread his arm before her, halting the woman in her action. Singlehandedly, he took a last sip from his now emptied ramen bowl, and then reached into his pockets for his own wallet, wordlessly waving it towards Aiba, trying to pull his move off as nonchalantly and cool as possible.

"Hers is on me too," he then finally said, throwing a meaningful look at his assistant, who just rolled her eyes demonstratively.

"If you think that paying for my beer and serving of edamame solves it all, then you're on the wrong track, Satoshi," she said, pursing her full lips at him.

"Oh come on, don't be like that!" the artist replied in a whiny tone, pulling some bank notes from his wallet and putting them on top of the counter in front of Aiba, who took them, gratefully and searched for the change to give back to his customer.

"If you need any recommendations, Ohno-san, I can help you, just come to my shop," Yuriko said, probably really trying to be helpful, but the artist was already in a bad mood.

"Don’t you have enough customers today?" he snapped, pouting and quickly nodding towards Sakurai. "Seriously, what's with all these cheeky women here..."

"Hey, don't call her cheeky, she's wonderful!" Toma suddenly shouted, pulled out of his concentration, and at the same time he knocked over his quite impressive card tower.

"Aw, thank you, that's so cute!" Yuriko said, touched, before she started collecting some of the messed-up cards. "But look what you've done, what a shame... we better leave too, I think."

She pulled out her own wallet, fully understanding that her company was not able to move properly any longer – she probably should have told him to stop after his second beer – and paid Aiba. She told Toma to put one of his arms around her shoulders so that she could help him get outside. Ohno – although not completely sober anymore either – immediately offered his help too. Aiba laughed at the sight of Toma unsuccessfully trying to fight off the artist ("You called her cheeky!") who then apologized to both women, while being guided outside of the izakaya, Ishihara following them, still huffy at her boss. Luckily, all of them didn't have to go far to reach their homes.

As soon as Ohno and the others left, not without wishing everyone staying behind a good night, Sakurai cleared his throat, trying hard to get back Nino's attention, who seemed extremely busy with tidying something in the cupboard below the sink, although Aiba was convinced that the young man was only trying to hide from his admirer. While flashing Sakurai a smile, Aiba reached down and grabbed the back of Nino's collar, pulling his friend slightly but determined up to make him stand straight right next to him, until he was face to face with Sakurai with only the bar between them.

"So, now it's just... the four of us," Sakurai finally said, letting his eyes wander from Nino to Aiba, Jun, and then back to Nino again, locking eyes with the young man.

"You know what? Make it three," Nino countered, quickly averting his eyes, and already starting to untie the knot of his apron. "I'm leaving."

"What? Why?" Sakurai asked, disappointed, his grin completely wiped off his handsome face.

"I have... homework to do," Nino replied after a moment of thinking.

It probably wasn't even a lie, but it could definitely wait for one more hour, Aiba assumed, so he immediately got a grip on Nino's hand, stopping him in his movement, and slightly pulled him back.

"No no no, you're staying here, young man, I need you to help me clean up," Aiba intervened.

His friend gave him his best puppy eyes. "I'll do it tomorrow morning?"

But Aiba was stronger.

"You are staying, we still have guests," he said, decisively, pushing a dry towel and a glass to be polished into Nino's free hands before he himself proceeded to serve Jun with some snacks that the other man had not even ordered, but still took, gratefully.

"Tsk." Unnerved, Nino slightly rolled his eyes.

He ended up looking right into Sakurai's eyes accidentally, who smiled at him, amused, his hand supporting his chin, while he was obviously observing the young man's every move. Suddenly, for Nino there was nothing more interesting in this world than the glass in his hand, and nothing was more important than polishing it like crazy.

"Sakurai-san, why don't you tell us a bit more about yourself?" Aiba then requested, turning his attention towards the strange couple. "For example, what are your hobbies?"

"Oh, I do have a lot of hobbies!" Sakurai immediately picked up, looking at Aiba first, before his attention almost naturally focused back on Nino. "I like travelling, dancing, going out for a walk..."

"Oh, that sounds really interesting," Aiba immediately nodded, approving while Jun added that his friend could also sing pretty well, making Sakurai shrug nonchalantly, but didn’t denying the compliment.

"Hmpf." Nino on the other hand did not really seem to approve.

"I also like reading good books, and listening to music," Sakurai continued, and it sounded so naturally and convincing that Aiba really wondered, if he was only trying to say something to impress Nino, or if he was really interested in so many different things.

"Hm..."

"And I love going to the movies," Sakurai ended his list.

"…"

Nino froze, Sakurai raised his eyebrows, exchanging a wondering look with Jun, and Aiba grinned.

"Here we go, Nino, isn't that nice?" Aiba immediately jumped back into the conversation – if you could even call it that – nudging his elbow into Nino's side. "Sakurai-san is a movie fan too~!"

"Oh please could you just...," Nino whispered, desperately, but it was already too late.

"Oh, you are a movie fan too, Ninomiya-san?" Sakurai was even more hooked than before, his eyes shining brightly and his lips forming a really happy smile.

Aiba grinned. If Nino didn't think of that man as cute now, he didn't know his friend anymore.

"You know, Nino is an aspiring film maker," Aiba contributed to clear the way for a deeper conversation between Sakurai and Nino. "He's currently studying at the film school. We're watching a bunch of movies together and he's really great at analyzing them and -"

"Masaki, please... stop now?" the younger man tried it again with the puppy eyes, but Aiba stayed strong and instead gestured his friend to focus on Sakurai.

"That's really interesting!" the man said, nodding appreciating, focusing on Nino again. "Do you mind telling me more about that? Which is your favourite movie?"

Hearing this, Nino took a deep breath, put the now perfectly polished glass back onto the counter with a loud thump, and finally, he was completely involved in the conversation.

"You ask me to pick _one_ favourite movie? Excuse me, but, are you nuts?!"

"There we go," Aiba smirked towards Jun, knowing that their plan had finally kicked in.

Nino wouldn't be able to leave this topic uncleared, and surely not only lecture Sakurai over his lack of understanding the passion of a _real_ movie lover and the sheer impossibility of picking only _one_ favourite movie, and then he would be busy talking about movies for the next couple of hours, not minding at all that initially, he had not planned to exchange one single word with that man in front of him. That was real passion, Aiba thought, but he didn't mind it. To the contrary, he appreciated that it would actually work into his hands in this aspect and he was sure, Nino would enjoy it – not only due to the conversation topic, but also because of his conversation partner. It might not be obvious to everyone's eyes, but Aiba was convinced that there was some kind of chemistry between Nino and Sakurai, which in the end, even Nino would not be able to deny.

Now, with Sakurai occupying cloud nine with receiving Nino's full attention finally, all at once, somehow it was only Aiba and Jun left. It was just now, that his heartbeat quickened again, reminding him, how excited he had been about Jun coming to visit initially.

There was a short but awkward silence, which Jun used to take a big sip from the beer Aiba had served him, and Aiba tried hard to find a topic to talk about with the young man while tidying some things on the counter to keep his hands busy. It wasn't like it was hard to find something to talk about, to the contrary, Aiba's mind was filled with tons of different things that he wanted to ask and to tell Jun. So many, that in the end, he simply didn't know where to start. It was Jun who broke the awkward silence first.

"So, what is _your_ favourite movie?" the young man asked, cutely tilting his head and smirking at Aiba, who couldn't help but grin at this adorable gesture. "That is, if you can decide on only _one_ ," he added, making Aiba laugh.

"Actually, it's really quite hard to pick only one favourite, isn't it?" the man then asked in return.

"True," Jun chuckled, taking another sip from his beer.

"Maybe, the four of us should go to the cinema someday," Aiba suggested (not daring to ask for a _date_ between just the two of them yet), before silence could creep back between them.

"Yeah, why not," Jun nodded with a smile on his lips. "If you can convince the little grump to come along, Sho would really appreciate that, I think."

"We probably should let him pick the movie then," Aiba chuckled and Jun joined him.

"I think, I can live with that," Jun then said, before he took another bite from his food. "By the way, these gyoza are the best gyoza I ever had," he admitted, shamelessly. "How do you make them?"

"Family recipe," Aiba said in a proud voice, as if this was everything that needed to be said.

Jun nodded, before he raised one of his eyebrows. "And the secret ingredient is...?"

"A secret," Aiba replied, throwing Jun a wink. Well, he tried to. And failed. Probably, he blushed a little from the embarrassment, but he might be able to blame it on the heat behind the grill.

Jun burst into laughter, his face lightening up, and Aiba's heart performed a somersault in his chest. There it was again, this wonderful laughter that he loved so much. That happy face that made Jun look like he never grew up. Since Jun showed up again, Aiba felt like his friend had grown into a serious adult, but he still was able to laugh like this, and it was amazing.

Of course, Jun did not ask further, respecting Aiba's reply – even if he still seemed to be highly amused by Aiba's failed wink – and instead came up with another topic connected to food.

"By the way, I saw an advertisement in the newspaper for the local summer festival," the young man said. "It's still quite a bit before that, but people already seem to think about it, aren't they?"

Aiba nodded. "There's not really a need to rush, but the organizers like to start early. They will probably come around to your restaurant soon and ask you if you want to join and if yes, in which form."

"You mean, if we'd like to take part in the street sale with food from our restaurant?"

"Exactly. Well, it's not obligatory, but for example, you could make a small booth with desserts or other small treats that people can take with them while walking past. I'm sure, they would be thrilled to get some of your creations to go," Aiba said. "Oh, and we're all supposed to dress up in yukatas and the like, you know? To create this traditional feeling..."

"That sounds really nice," Jun smiled. "Do you participate every year?"

"Of course," Aiba replied, a warm smile spreading on his face. His heart started beating a bit faster. "I can't wait for the next one. This year... it will be something special."

Questioning, Jun looked at the man behind the counter. "Something special?"

"Yes," Aiba smiled, his heartbeat so powerful in his chest, that for a short moment, he pressed his hand against his chest to calm it down a little bit before focusing back on his work and he was ready to add the next few words, heavy from nostalgia. "Because you're back and we can celebrate together again."

Jun was just looking at Aiba, with those beautiful brown eyes of him that seemed to draw Aiba in like nothing else on this world. Still. Like it always had been. For a moment, it felt so intense for Aiba that it was like his breath was being sucked out of him while his heart skipped a beat.

The two men looked at each other for a few seconds, without saying anything more, and Aiba would have paid a fortune to be able to read Jun's thoughts. But of course, he wasn't able to do that and so the moment passed, and everything turned back to normal. Or so. Jun reached for his beer again, taking the last sip and then, he ordered a second one, which Aiba quickly provided him with.

"Don't you have anything to drink? I'd like to make a toast to the upcoming summer festival," Jun said, although he wasn't looking at Aiba.

"Ah, I'm not drinking during working hours, but wait," the other man replied, getting himself a glass of lemonade that he reached into his old friend's direction with a wide smile. "That doesn't mean we can't make a toast."

Jun looked at him again, smiling, and lifted his beer to clink glasses with the izakaya's chef. "To the summer festival. May it become a great one and may we celebrate it together!"

Aiba nodded, swallowing before he replied. "May it become the greatest of all."

They each took a big sip from their glasses and laughed, before returning to their talk. Aiba told Jun a few funny anecdotes from the past few years' festivals, and made sure to recommend him the best booths already, causing the other man to chuckle and tell him that he wouldn't be able to memorize all these until it was actually time for the festival. Aiba just waved his hand, promising that he would find the time to show Jun around then, if he wanted to, which the other gratefully accepted.

Afterwards, Jun reported to Aiba how much he loved the fish they had chosen this morning, and how convenient the Miyake's delivery service was. Aiba was proud to have recommended something so useful, and then the two chefs started talking more about food, until Aiba asked the fateful question of how Jun became inspired to create so many interesting dishes and to combine Western with Japanese cuisine. It made the younger man pull out his phone and start a slide show of wonderful, colourful and really impressive pictures (not only but mainly showing different kinds of food) he had taken from his trip with Sho all over Europe, just a couple of weeks before the opening of their restaurant. Aiba would be a liar if he said he wasn't slightly envious about the awesome experience, and he couldn't help but wonder, if he and Jun would have made such a journey together too, if things had turned out a bit differently.

The young man quickly brushed away this thought, as soon as he felt it putting weight on his heart. He wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening and he indeed did enjoy how Jun opened up to him more and more, telling him small stories and sharing ideas with him. It was like a miracle itself, and although this friendship that was blossoming now between them was something completely new, it also had something familiar to it. One way or the other, it felt great, and Aiba loved every minute he spent together with Jun, no matter what.

It became expectedly late, and it was only when Jun's eyes brushed his watch, when he slightly cursed.

"Gosh, I hate to say this, but if I'm supposed to show up early tomorrow for the morning market, I fear, I should better go home now and try to catch at least a few hours of sleep," the young man said, flashing Aiba an apologetic smile.

"Oh," the other had not realized either, how late it had become, and a quick glance to the side showed him that they had not been the only ones.

Nino was seemingly still busy with basically giving a verbal report about the movie paper he recently handed in for class, having Sakurai figuratively hanging on his lips in awe, obviously impressed (or maybe just staring at the young man's lips, Aiba wasn't so sure about that, honestly).

"Well, I'd appreciate meeting you there in the morning, so probably, I should let you guys go now," Aiba said with a smile, looking back at Jun, even if he wouldn't mind talking to Jun until the sun would rise again, at all.

Jun smiled. "I still might need a mint-chocolate-coffee, though. You need to tell me where exactly I can get it."

"I'll show you," Aiba replied.

"Sho, I'm calling it a day, are you coming with me or would you two love birds prefer to keep flirting for a little longer?" the other man then asked, a bit louder to be heard by Sakurai and Nino, after emptying his beer.

As if being ripped out of concentration, Nino immediately stopped talking, much to Sakurai's dislike, his face red.

"We are not flirting!" the young man claimed.

"Well, _Sho_ is, or at least, he's trying to," Jun chuckled under his hand, exchanging a meaningful look with Aiba.

"I guess, it's really getting late and I probably disturbed you long enough. I'm sorry for keeping you awake for so long," Sakurai told Nino in a gentleman-like way.

The young man looked at him with a plain expression, not replying anything and instead just reached his hand for Sakurai's empty dishes and took them to wash them up. While Nino was doing so, Sakurai quickly pulled out a pen from his pockets and grabbed the nearest napkin to scribble something onto it, before placing it facing towards Nino on the counter. The young man looked up from his work, already finished and drying his hands, quickly reached for the napkin and then blushed once more before he pushed it back towards his guest.

"Sakurai-san, I beg you to take your trash with you!" Nino grumbled, earning a confused frown by the other man.

"That's my phone number!"

"I repeat -"

"I want you to keep it!" Sakurai cut the young man's words and pushed the napkin back into his direction.

"Why should I?" Nino asked, stubbornly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Come on, Ninomiya-kun," the other man continued, charmingly tilting his head and smiling at the man behind the bar counter. "We get along quite well, don't you think so too? I'd like to continue our talk, it was very interesting and I-"

"Ninomiya- _san_ , for you, still," Nino cut in, coldly.

"I may say that you're really harsh on me, considering that you shared your most interesting film theories with me just now," Sakurai noted. Apparently, he could be stubborn too if he wanted to.

"You're still our _rival_. Now take this and go!"

Nino reached at the napkin for a last time and literally throwing it towards the other man. It didn't really reach anywhere close and just floated strangely in the air so that Sakurai finally reached out his hands and caught it, just to place it back on the counter, this time out of Nino's reach.

"I'll place it here, OK?" he suggested, smiling nonchalantly. "Think about it, you can still decide what to do with it when you're done here."

"I _am_ done here," Nino spat and turned around.

Without looking back, he pushed open the curtain that separated the izakaya's restaurant rooms from the family's apartment upstairs and stomped up the stair, leaving the others behind. Sakurai blinked, confused, before he turned his head towards Jun and Aiba, who were still witnessing the scene in silence.

"Did he…," Sakurai started with a big frown on his forehead, pointing towards the still swinging curtain. "Did he just dump me?"

"Again," Jun added, nodding slowly.

"But don't give up, Sakurai-san!" Aiba cheered, fisting his hands in a fighting pose. "It's not a hopeless situation, he's always getting angry when he's emotional, you know?"

"MASAKI!" Nino's voice came from upstairs. "Don't think I didn't hear that!"

"See?" Aiba whispered, grinning, and showed Sakurai two thumbs up, who released a short sigh but then put back on his smile and nodded towards him.

After Jun and Sakurai paid for their drinks and snacks – insisting on it after Aiba wanted to make it "on the house" – the man finally came around the counter to guide them outside.

"Thanks for the invitation," Sakurai said, nodding towards Aiba.

"It was my pleasure. Please come back whenever you feel like it," the man replied, smiling towards the others before he locked eyes with Jun. "So, see you in the morning at the market?"

"Sure, see you there," Jun nodded.

After wishing each other a good night, the two friends left, and Aiba went back inside after watching them walk up the street for a few more seconds. He closed the door and made sure to lock up since his last two guests now had left and he could call it a day too. There wasn't much work left, since Nino had already cleaned most tables in the front – before he was interrupted by Sakurai. Aiba playfully rolled his eyes, and grinned when he came back to clear up the last few things behind the counter.

"Come out Nino, I can see your silhouette," the man said and immediately, the curtain flew open and Nino appeared.

"I wasn't hiding…"

"Of course not. Did you forget something? Sakurai's _trash_ maybe?" Aiba asked smiling, while fishing for the napkin the other man had left behind on the counter for Nino and offering it to his friend.

"Surely not!" Nino replied, refusing to take it.

With this, Aiba stored it away in a box behind the counter, not without missing Nino's eyes following his movements.

"Say, why are you playing so hard to get?" he asked, leaning against the bar.

"I don't know what you're talking about...," Nino replied, still playing dumb, but Aiba knew exactly that Nino was completely aware of the situation.

Aiba sighed. "Sakurai-san really seems to like you."

"I don't care," Nino said in a low voice.

"He's fun, and cute, and handsome, I'm sure he's very reliable and will protect you. What else do you want from a man?"

"He's our _rival_!"

Nino looked at his friend with furrowed eyebrows, but the sound of his voice already indicated that his argument was losing ground, especially after how openly Aiba had welcomed their _rivals_ in their izakaya tonight. Both, Jun and Sakurai were really nice men and compared to Nino they did not seem to have this idea of rivalry at all in their minds. They just wanted to keep their restaurant running well enough to pay their rent while following their dream. It was something admirable and something that was meant to be supported. Aiba knew that, and of course, Nino too.

"I know, you know better," Aiba therefore said. "You're just being stubborn. And you're afraid of letting new people into your life. Which is OK, but don't be so hard on Sakurai, and also not on yourself."

"Well, it would be helpful if somebody was not trying to set us up," Nino countered. "I don't like to feel pressured about who I should like and who not. Who's the one being stubborn here, huh?"

"You get a point there, I'm sorry. But I really think you two would hit it off!" Aiba chuckled slightly. His friend was just too cute and it was just too tempting to keep teasing him. "Now relax and take Sakurai's number."

"Did you even listen to me?" Nino exploded. "BURN IT!"

Again, Nino went upstairs, just to come back once more to fetch the glass that was still standing behind the counter, in which he had placed the yellow rose he received from Sakurai a bit earlier. Aiba raised his eyebrows, throwing his friend a meaningful look, who just averted his eyes, trying hard to hide his blush.

"Don't say anything," he murmured.

Aiba just kept smiling, watching Nino who vanished again as fast as he showed up. While finishing cleaning up the last few bits, Aiba hummed again, happily, one of his cheesy love songs. He was highly amused by the situation between his friend and Sakurai, and he really couldn't wait until the shell around Nino's heart would melt a little to let in the charming funny man. Even if Sakurai seemed a little unlucky with all this flirting attempts towards Nino, he seemed to be a confident, genuine and friendly guy, who surely would be able to brighten Nino's life. Yes, Aiba decided to put all of his trust in Sakurai, convinced that this man was able to give Nino what he needed, and what he himself was unfortunately unable to provide him.

He on the other hand, would try his best not to hit on Jun too hard. Even if he had a good feeling after he and his old friend had gotten along really well today, he didn't want to push things on Jun that the other man probably didn't like. But maybe, he would be allowed to get even closer to the man, soon...

\- + TBC + -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2018-02-07 Note to Chapter 3: I'm sorry, I didn't have time to re-check the whole text yet. Will probably do so within the next few days and edit out some more typos and such then, hopefully. Thanks for your understanding!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes to Chapter 4: Happy Valentines, everybody! Sorry, this is also the un-corrected version since I just couldn't find the time to read the chapter again, work is crazy recently T_T Hope, you still enjoy it! <3

It had been about two weeks now since the new restaurant in the shopping district opened. _Jun's_ new restaurant. And still, even if it was as Aiba expected, the izakaya did not go bankrupt, and the guests had come back, now distributing their visits between the two restaurants. But Nino was still slightly sulky about the whole thing.

In fact, Nino knew that it was stupid to claim his dislike being based on the rivalry factor between the two places, even if in the beginning this was indeed one of his worries and – in his opinion – a legit one. But now, his main problem was, well, his main problem _s_ were simply named Matsumoto Jun and Sakurai Sho.

Nino was still kind of pissed at Jun for not remembering neither him, nor Aiba, nor the time they spent together. It wasn't even that he himself felt kind of disappointed and offended, the problem was rather that he couldn't believe that Jun managed to forget someone like Aiba! And with this, of course, also their joint dream.

Of course, Nino knew about that promise. When the three of them were children, and played together almost every day, it was all about their dreams. While Nino wanted to create stories and make movies, the only thing Aiba and Jun would talk about was their love for food and their love for cooking. They spent hours and hours together in the izakaya, helping Aiba's parents wherever they could, while trying to learn as much as possible. Nino either played along, he was never as interested in food as the other two boys, or he simply stayed close to them, watching them or writing something in a notebook that he always brought along with him. He remembered exactly that one day when he wrote something along the lines of wanting to make a short film for Aiba and Jun's planned restaurant and showed it to the whole world, so that a lot of people would come and taste their creations. Everything was written out nicely, and for Nino it sounded like a great plan. However, one day, Jun left and took all his hopes with him.

Strangely enough, while Nino kind of felt betrayed by one of his best friends, especially when one day, he suddenly stopped contacting him and Aiba all at once without any prior notice. Aiba was never obviously mad at Jun and never openly showed his disappointment.

But Nino wasn't blind. He knew that Aiba was even more hurt than he was, but he also witnessed how Aiba managed to overcome that pain with simply being himself.

For Nino, the world was often filled with injustice and bad luck and those really positive things that could happen, like the Aiba family welcoming him in their household, were very rare and far from the norm. For Aiba though, the world was a place always full of beautiful things, with new chances and opportunities around each corner. He was experimental, and he had the gift of changing what he could and accepting what he could not, something that Nino himself always had troubles with.

Exactly because Aiba was such a positive person, someone who was rarely brought down, Nino admired him deeply, and he wanted to do everything he could to protect this aspect of his best friend.

So far, there was only one point in Aiba's life when he actively acted against his nature. If he usually was someone who wanted to take new chances and try out new things (and with new things he did not only mean new ice cream flavours or games), there was that one time, he had not taken such a chance.

Aiba didn’t talk much about this, but next to his talent for cooking, and managing an izakaya, there was also another talent that he possessed and would probably even be able to develop it to a professional level.

Baseball.

Aiba had not only attended the baseball club at school until graduation, but also made Nino and half of the other neighbourhood's kids (including Jun for the first few years, until he moved away) join the baseball team he founded, and maintained it for years after graduation. Aiba always managed to be in the first line-up out on the field, playing like a beast, winning games and tournaments together with the rest of the team. Although he always only played for fun, he was so good that together with the other players, Aiba quickly brought their school's team fame and recognition on a regional level. One day during their last year of high school, a talent scout from a university even visited one of their matches to watch out for potential new talents for the university team.

Of course, they won on that fateful day, and of course, Aiba was the driving force who eventually managed to catch the talent scout's attention, even if he did not even dreamed about anything like this. For him, the offer to take on a scholarship for sports with focus on baseball at university, had come out of the blue, and much to the baseball scout's disappointment, Aiba refused it right away, insisting on his dream of becoming a professional chef together with Jun whom he believed to still remember their promise even though he was living far away. For Nino it was crystal clear what that meant.

Up to that point, Aiba had never given up on his and Jun's dream.

Further, Nino knew that Aiba was always waiting for Jun's return, and that if Jun came back one day, Aiba would have asked Jun to open up a restaurant together with him (and if Nino was lucky, they would take him along, but that wasn't the point now).

Instead, Jun cut the contacts to his old friends just like that, and now that he had the nerves to show up back here, and seemed to have forgotten all about them, completely. Instead of coming to get Aiba to fulfil their joint dream, he had gone and fulfilled his dream with another guy, that Sakurai guy. Jun had broken Aiba's heart once more, Nino knew it, and it made him so freaking angry, that he still had a really hard time trying to forgive him.

On top of that, that Sakurai guy actually had the guts to hit on _him_ , as if Nino wasn't busy enough already with life. It was a mess, and he hated being the centre of attention. Even more, since he realized that the _affection_ Sakurai showered on him, wasn't actually _that_ bad, he was just immensely confused. All in all, Nino was unable to cope with the whole situation and especially since Aiba seemed to have teamed up with Jun and Sakurai, Nino felt like being left out. It made him feel like an idiot and he hated that feeling.

They couldn't blame him, if he tried to avoid all of them for a bit, could they? Because avoidance had become Nino's second nature, especially when it came to the Sakurai situation.

Yes, maybe it was a little bit flattering to be chosen by such an – admittedly – somewhat charming man as his "new target", however, Nino couldn't even accept it for real. Why would someone like Sakurai fall in love with him at first sight – with him out of all people when he surely could have anybody else he wanted – and keep flirting with him, even if Nino made clear that he was not interested? Because that was exactly what Sakurai was doing, and so, whenever there was a chance, he would drop by the izakaya, asking for Nino, maybe give him some small presents and try to invite him on a date. It was so confusing and annoying that Nino started retreating from helping in the izakaya, essentially whenever it was not necessary for him to be around, so that he could flee and hide from that man.

Honestly, it wasn't that he hated Sakurai. Sakurai was not one to be hated, he was friendly, nice, he was a gentleman, funny, even cute... but Nino hated the way his heart felt, when that man was around him. Because that feeling reminded him of what his heart used to feel in the past, whenever he was around someone else. Someone, who meant the world for him – and still did, in one way or the other.

Nino wasn't ready to experience those feelings again, he thought, especially not, if eventually, they would lead into a dead end, and even if Sakurai showed him affection now, he wondered, if the man would continue to do so, once he got to know him better. So far, too many people in Nino's life had not loved him back the same way he loved them. It was always painful, but it wasn't in Nino's power to change other people's feelings. He knew that, even if it was kind of frustrating.

The person, Nino used to have a crush on some time ago, had always literally brightened up his life. He made him appreciate life, even if he wasn't lucky enough to have a loving family around. He protected him from bullies and he supported him in finding and pursuing his dream. Without that person, Nino doubted he would still be around. For him it almost felt natural that his feelings of friendship and gratefulness eventually turned into something more. Even if he would never be brave enough to voice his feelings, especially not when he realized, that that person was feeling the same way, but for someone else.

Nino had accepted that he and Aiba would always be like brothers and best friends, rather than anything else, and he never intended to cross that line, preferring to stand back and watch and support Aiba as much as he could in everything the man wanted to achieve. But seeing Aiba's _real_ dreams not coming true still hurt and reminded him how much that man meant to him.

Now, there was this other man, approaching Nino in a way that was completely new to him, but making his heart feel very similar to how it had felt around Aiba at times. That feeling when Sakurai talked to him, flashed him this gorgeous, sincere smile and showering him with attention that Nino still didn't understand how he deserved, made his heart constrict. It made it beat faster and louder, hammering against his chest. It made him hard to breath, sometimes, hard to think, and first and foremost, it confused Nino immensely and made him doubt. Doubting Sakurai's feelings, and also, his own. Yes, the whole situation was simply a mess.

Trying to clear up that mess in his heart and brain, Nino decided to use his break time today to consult a more "neutral" friend in this whole situation, so he could get an unbiased opinion. He was tired of talking to Aiba about Jun or Sakurai or both, and he really just needed to vent all his doubts and anger to someone who was less involved, in order to calm down.

This was how he ended up sitting in the rooms of Yuriko's colourful flower shop next door to the izakaya.

In fact, Nino and Yuriko had always gotten along well, and whenever Nino needed someone to talk about stuff he couldn't tell Aiba, for whatever reason, the young woman was his first choice. She was a great listener, but always honest with her opinion, and more importantly, she was able to keep secrets. Probably, after Aiba, Yuriko would be the one Nino considered as his best friend. So, when she innocently welcomed Nino with a simple "Hey, what's wrong?" just about half an hour ago, Nino didn't worry about holding back a wave of suddenly over bubbling feelings and words.

"I didn't give up on him in order to see him fall head over heels in love with someone who can't even remember him," Nino ended his speech, huffing. He took a deep breath and looked around, to calm his nerves.

The brightly lit shop was filled with buckets containing all different kind of flowers, beautiful pre-made flower bouquets ready to be picked up as a present, decorative items, and more. Indeed, the atmosphere was inspiring and calming at the same time, and the fresh scent was alluring. It was a nice change from the rather comfy dimly lit izakaya and the smell of food that surrounded Nino all day long when he was there.

Actually, recently the flower shop was his second favourite place to withdraw when everything got just too much for him. His room would usually be his first choice, but Aiba had developed the bad habit of trying to get him out of there, whenever Sakurai showed up to talk to him. At least, Aiba did not had the guts to bring Sakurai upstairs. Yet. Nino didn't want to risk anything though, and thus he decided to switch to seeking shelter at his friend's place once in a while instead. So here he was slumping in the seat behind the shop's counter, surrounded by a beauty that he would probably appreciate much more if he wasn't in such a bad mood.

"Don't forget that he was ALWAYS head over heels in love with that person," Yuriko added. She was standing behind Nino while fumbling with some flowers that she was trying to arrange on top of Nino's hair in a wreath form. "I know what I'm talking about. Remember when I tried dating Aiba-chan for this one time years ago?"

The woman kept focus on her work, enjoying the rare chance of having a real life model victim for her creativity, but honestly at the moment, Nino couldn't care less. Of course, Nino remembered. Back then, he still had not come to terms with his confused feelings for Aiba, and it had been the worst period of his life. Not that he ever told anyone about that.

"It was just too obvious, he was all about Jun this, Jun that...," the woman continued, remembering the time when she had a crush on Aiba too, like so many school girls their age back then.

"At least you had a date!" Nino shrugged, pouting slightly.

"Believe me, you don't want to date someone who's in love with someone else," the woman said, a slight hint of bitterness in her voice. She was glad to be over that phase, indeed, and thankful that she was so happy with her husband, Toma, now.

"I know," Nino replied. "Just saying. Anyway, how can he even stay in love with someone for so many years, without seeing or hearing from that person at all? How is that possible?"

"How is it possible to be in love with someone who they know exactly they don't have a chance with?" Yuriko gave back.

"I'm not in love with Masaki," Nino said, lowering his head, before adding in a low voice. "Not anymore..."

Carefully but determined, Yuriko pulled Nino's head slightly back into position.

"Then what's the problem? Matsumoto is back. Aiba-chan still loves him, happy ending."

Nino turned around so quickly that Yuriko's fingers accidentally slapped his nose, and with a frustrated sigh, she lowered her hands, temporarily giving up on her current project.

"You forget that Jun does not _remember_ us! So much for their happy ending," the young man countered sarcastically.

"Well, I guess, sometimes people forget about their childhood," the young woman replied. "It's just that – childhood memories."

"For Masaki it is more than that!" Nino claimed.

"Yes, I know. And yes, maybe Matsumoto doesn't remember but," Yuriko shrugged her shoulders. "They can start something new, and maybe that's not so bad?"

Slightly shaking his head, Nino sighed. "You don't get my point."

"I do get it, but I think, you're overthinking this. You're worrying too much and you're stubborn like a mule," the woman continued, causing Nino's chin to drop. "I mean, look at Aiba-chan, he completely accepted the situation and embraced it as a new chance. In fact, you are the only one being sulky about this whole thing."

Enraged, Nino jumped up, ignoring the flower petals falling down on his shoulder. "Am I not allowed to be sulky? I'm worried, yes. Am I not allowed to be worried about my _older brother_?"

"I know you only want to protect Aiba-chan but don't you think he's old enough to take care of himself?" his friend asked, trying not to raise her voice too.

"I mean it, I'm _really_ worried," the man continued, frustrated. "With their different starting points, they just can't get on the same level."

"But Aiba-chan is fine with the situation? And you know how adaptable he can be. It's much less complicated than you imagine."

"Being adaptable and pretending that everything is fine in order not to make the other person feel uncomfortable are two different pairs of shoes," Nino clarified, sending his friend a determined look. He knew what he was talking about, he spoke from experience, and not only personal one. "He may seem like he's dealing much better with it than he actually does. I was there... you didn't see him crying when he first met Jun again and that idiot didn't recognize him. It was heartbreaking..."

Yuriko looked at her friend, who was now pressing his fisted hands against his thighs, his whole body slightly trembling from the emotions. Slowly, she took a step forward to close the distance between her and Nino again, reaching her hands to put it on top of his shoulders.

"You were not there with him in that restaurant when he realized that Jun fulfilled his dream without him by his side," the man continued in a shaky voice. "You don't see him spacing out when he's doing the dishes or other routine work at the izakaya. He tries to hide it, but I know that he's worried and confused and that he's constantly thinking about the situation. About Jun…"

"It must have been a shock at first, yes, but... Look how happy he is now? Just the other day, he told me excitedly how glad he is that he and Matsumoto are friends again," the woman tried to soothe Nino. "Aiba-chan can handle this," Yuriko tried again, tightening the grip on Nino's shoulder. She smiled and then guided Nino to turn around and sit back down onto the stool to continue her unfinished work. "He's positive by nature and he's strong. Once he fully adjusted to the situation, it will be fine, you'll see."

"Yes, he's a positive fellow, he's like the sun, but still sometimes even Masaki worries, you know? He looks fine on the outside, but it's eating him on the inside. There are scars on his heart, I can see them."

"You're really being a bit over dramatic today, Nino," Yuriko sighed, even if she could understand what her friend was talking about.

The young man huffed, crossing his arms again. "Don't dare calling my worries about my best friend over dramatic!"

"Alright," the woman gave in. "Now sit still or I'm going to poke you with the flower stems."

"I think I can survive being poked by a flower stem," Nino replied, rolling his eyes while Yuriko finally resumed her work. "There are no thorns, after all."

"Smart ass," she chuckled. "Speaking about thorns, what about the yellow rose you got back then? Or more directly, the guy you got it from?"

"What about him?" Nino asked after a second of hesitation. He didn't expect the change of topic, and surely, he was not ready to talk about Sakurai and the confusion that man triggered in him.

"Do you like him back?" The woman asked in a sweet voice.

"Did I make the impression that I like him? You were there too," Nino replied, slightly unnerved, referring back to that evening in the izakaya where everyone was present when Jun and Sakurai entered there for the first time.

"And I saw you getting very loud and angry. Which usually, as you proved quite often already, is a sign that you are very much emotionally involved."

"Why is everyone holding that against me?!" Nino exclaimed. "And even if that's true, it doesn't mean I _like_ that guy..."

Actually, Nino was glad that Yuriko could not see his face from her position. He could already feel his cheeks warming up.

"Maybe you should try. I mean, I heard he asked you out," Yuriko said and when Nino just hummed critically, she tried more. "Several times even, if I can believe what Aiba-chan told me! You said, you're not in love with Aiba-chan anymore, right? So what's holding you back?"

"Hm."

"Take the offer, give it a try, fall in love!" Yuriko said, cheerfully, leaning a bit forward and throwing her arms around Nino's neck for a small cuddle.

Nino didn't move, and he didn't reply. He was thinking. Everything that Yuriko just said was true, but still...

"Oh," the woman said. "Speaking about the devil..."

Nino stiffened when his eyes spotted who had just entered the flower shop. It was Jun, followed by Sakurai and just at the sight of the man his heart started beating faster suddenly. Nino held his breath for a moment. Why did those two have to show up here now at all times possible, anyway? He must be cursed.

"Oh... sorry, are we disturbing?" Jun asked, raising an eyebrow at the look of Yuriko and Nino, the woman quickly letting go off Nino, almost pushing the nearly finished flower wreath off Nino's head. Jun continued, "We're on break and thought we could come pick up the new flower decoration..."

"No no, please come in, come in, guys!" Yuriko chimed, clapping her hands before jumping to the side. "It's all done, just give me a second."

"I'm so sorry, Sho," Jun then murmured, while coming closer to the other. "I had no idea..."

"Ninomiya-san?" Sakurai asked, his eyes filled with hurt, while Nino was still trying to recover from his shock while figuring out the situation. "Are you and..."

Sho's eyes drifting away from Nino to the woman next to him and Jun even lifted his hand, pointing his finger between Nino and Yuriko, who was now busy with pulling out two trays filled with small glass jars decorated with ribbons and flowers, the new decoration for the restaurant's tables. She stopped her movement when she realized what was going on and by now, Nino had also caught up. He jumped up, but even before he had any idea in his head about what to say, Yuriko was already about to save the situation.

"Oh, no wait, I think, you're misunderstanding," she tried to set right. "I am certainly _not_ cheating on my husband with Nino in case that’s what you are thinking! We're just friends!" When Sakurai frowned at her, critically, she continued, showing off her wedding ring. "I swear! I love Toma. Nino is like a brother to me!"

"Oh, I see...," Sakurai nodded, his smile returning and when Nino, whose flight instinct finally kicked in, tried to quickly pass him, he instinctively blocked his way, flashing that exact smile at the young man. "Stay, I didn't want to chase you away or anything. On the contrary, I'm happy to see you, how's it going?"

"I have to go," Nino insisted, ignoring the man's sweet words and trying to ignore the pleasant tone of his deep voice.

Again he tried to pass, but was held back by Jun's voice behind him...

"Are you telling me you're going out like _this_?" Jun asked and when Nino turned around, the taller man reached up with his hands and took off the flower wreath from the young man's head, leaving something behind that looked like a bird's nest made out of black hair.

"Oh," Nino murmured, trying to fix the mess.

"It suits you, though," Sakurai said with a charming smile on his full red lips. "Cute things fit cute people. I'd like you to wear one on our first date, what do you say?"

Nino said nothing and just looked at him, unable to react. They locked eyes for a few seconds, until the smaller man averted his eyes again and then proceeded to dash out of the shop without a word.

He didn't see how Sakurai continued looking after him, seemingly fighting with himself if he should follow him or not, or Jun turning towards Yuriko, placing the flower wreath on her head instead, telling her that it suited _her_ even better, earning a sweet chuckle and a playful slap against the shoulder. Nino only knew that there was this strange feeling in his chest again, and that it was still confusing him. Or rather, he knew what its meaning might be, but he far wasn't ready yet, to accept it.

\- - + - -

"This should be the last one," Aiba said while placing a box filled with ceramic bowls on top of the table lined with a simple white tablecloth in the area of the gallery they were setting up the buffet.

Almost everything was prepared, except from the mixed drinks. They brought tons of glasses, napkins, spoons and chopsticks and a huge pot of ramen soup was already placed on a hotplate, simmering and ready to be served. Still stronger though, than the smell of Aiba's special soup, was the smell of fresh paint coming through the open door of the atelier at the back, in which Ohno was still working. Probably, he would do so even when in about an hour the first visitors of his new exhibition would arrive, Aiba assumed.

It was an interesting and very alluring idea, to have the chance to see an artist in action. But he wasn't here for his own entertainment, he was here for work, as Ohno had begged him to take care of the catering for the evening, and Aiba of course had happily agreed. Now, while his parents were taking over the shift in the izakaya, Aiba had brought Nino with him as his helping hand.

Speaking about Nino…

When Aiba realized that he missed a certain presence next to him, he turned around, wondering where he could have lost his friend along the short way from the izakaya to the gallery. Immediately, he spotted the young man, still carrying two boxes of precooked ramen noodle that he had pushed into his hands, standing in front of a huge canvas hanging on the wall Aiba had just passed. Nino's head was slightly tilted, there was a frown on his face and he was obviously drawn to the picture of abstractly arranged colours. He was already intrigued by that painting the first and second time they carried stuff here just a few minutes ago. However, now it seemed Aiba had finally lost his friend to it, completely.

"What's wrong?" he asked, while carefully taking the boxes from his friend's hands to make sure they would eventually arrive at their destination. When he didn't receive any reply, Aiba slightly nudged the other man's shoulder. "Nino?"

"I appreciate art and this is really beautiful, don't get me wrong," the younger man replied after a few more seconds, slowly, reflectively, "But sometimes I really don't understand it. I mean, it's so much easier to interpret a whole movie than one of Ohno-san's paintings..."

Aiba tilted his head the same way Nino did, trying to see the art piece through his friend's eyes, and he could only agree. He had no idea what the painting should portray, but he found the colour scheme beautiful nonetheless.

"I guess that's what fascinates people so much about his work, isn't it?" he noted.

"Probably...," Nino hummed before he was pulled out of his thoughts by Aiba again.

"Anyway, our job today is not to appreciate art, but to make sure Ohno-san's admirers have enough to eat and drink, so come on and help me set up the buffet," the man said enthusiastically. "And aren't you supposed to film the whole event in between, anyway? You can use the time then to catch each picture on camera and muse about the different pieces. I'm sure Ohno-san will like that."

"Just one more minute...," Nino replied, as if trying to figure out the meaning behind the colourful mess on the canvas was his life's top priority right now, not minding how Aiba was trying to push him towards the buffet with the boxes he was still carrying.

"Whatever."

Aiba gave up in order to finally place the ramen noodle boxes where they belonged. However, when the door to the gallery opened once more, _he_ was the one being completely distracted by the sight of the people entering. Well, especially by the sight of _one_ of the people entering, his chest felt warming up.

"Jun, Sho-kun! There you are!"

Excited, Aiba waved his hands to greet the two men, who had become his close friends. Aiba was happy that he and Jun were getting along so well and that he was allowed to call Jun by his first name again, like he used to do. He had to admit that it had just happened one day when he called him Jun instead of Matsumoto, but luckily, Jun let it slip. Of course, Sho had offered Aiba to call him by his given name too, as he claimed that Jun's friends would be his, as well, and Aiba very much appreciated that. 

"OK… I'm off to prepare the drinks," suddenly, Nino seemed to be back in the present time and space.

He quickly turned around before even _making any efforts_ to greet the newcomers as well, especially not in as familiar way as Aiba. Sho did not only offer Aiba to call him by his first name, but also Nino, who, of course, had coldly refused and still insisted on calling the man Sakurai- _san_. He was not ready to take this next step yet, obviously, but soon, he would be, Aiba was convinced by that. At least, Nino didn't give the impression of wanting to kill Sho for calling him Ninomiya- _kun_ , instead of Ninomiya- _san_ , anymore.

Of course, it was too late, though. Faster than appreciated, Sho was already standing in front of Nino, flashing him his usual charming smile.

"Ninomiya-kun! How nice to see you," the man said in an alluring voice. "May I say how well you fit in here? A beautiful human being among beautiful art… is art by himself."

With that, Nino's face added a completely different shade of red to the colour spectrum of the whole setting (Aiba would give the picture the title "The Red of Embarrassment"), Jun could be heard releasing a small frustrated sigh while covering his forehead, and Aiba almost lost it at the funny compliment although he tried hard not to laugh. He knew, this probably would not lead Sho to his goal, but Aiba was excited to see how funny and cute at the same time Nino's – hopefully – future boyfriend was, once again. He felt a little guilty for his thought, but Aiba was convinced that Sho's special flirting attempts would never get boring.

"Uhm… I'm very sorry, but I don't have time to chat right now, I have to work," Nino tried to be polite while pressing that he needed to get away.

"No need to be so stressed, the guests haven’t even arrive yet," Aiba jumped in. Yes, he might have tried to urge Nino to help him just before, but siding with Sho was more important now. He wouldn't make it too easy for his friend to flee and he knew he could count on Sho too.

"You know what? I'll help you with the drinks," the man offered with a smile before he quickly turning back to the other two men. "That's OK, isn't it, Jun? Aiba-kun?"

"Sure, that would be very helpful," Aiba grinned broadly. He looked at Jun, who smiled at him. "I'll... help Jun instead. We're all here to work together after all."

"Someone save me," Nino murmured, finally turning around for real, aiming for a small area farther in the back of the gallery, where he and Aiba had stored the beverage and other ingredients for drinks.

"You look pale, Ninomiya-kun," Sho noted, sounding a bit worried, as he followed him and when hearing that Aiba followed along, quickly excusing himself from Jun, who said he'd go get some more stuff. "Would you like to sit down for a bit? Shall I bring you a glass of water?"

"Oh, a glass of water would be very nice," Nino answered, surprisingly flashing the other man a cheerful smile. Aiba frowned critically.

"Wait a second, I'll be right back."

Sho, happy to help, enthusiastically turned on his heel and when Nino wanted to do the same, just heading into the opposite direction, Aiba understood what was going on. Quickly, he leaped forward and caught Nino at his shirt, slightly pulling him back.

"And _you_ wait a second, too!" the man said in a strict voice. "Don't you even think about running away from him."

"But -" Nino wanted to protest, but Aiba pushed him towards a nearby chair, hands on his friend's shoulders, pressed him down.

"Sit down instead. Did you drink enough since your coffee in the morning? You really look a bit pale..."

"Because I'm shocked!" the younger man hissed, glaring at his friend and ignoring the side blow about his non-drinking habits. "You didn't tell me _they_ are coming here too! Are _we_ doing the catering or not?!"

"It's not my fault," Aiba immediately defended himself, trying his best to look innocent. "When Ohno-san asked us to do the catering he insisted on us working together with them because he wanted – I quote – the most delicious ramen _and_ the most creative sushi in town."

He wasn't lying there, although he had to admit that it was indeed his fault that Nino stayed uninformed about the exact situation. He was not present when just a few weeks ago, Ohno asked Aiba if he and Nino would be able to contribute their service to his new exhibition. Apparently, Ishihara planned to invite some renowned art connoisseurs on the opening day of the exhibition, as well as all people from the neighbourhood who were interested in checking out the artist's new work. Since she was too busy with sending out invitations, she allowed Ohno to take care of the catering service, much to his delight, as he was free to choose from his favourite places. Of course, his choice were the izakaya, as well as Jun and Sho's restaurant. It was an interesting mix, but not even Ishihara dared criticize Ohno's choice, and so, it turned out like this.

"You could have told me," Nino pouted.

"You would have pretended to be busy," Aiba countered, raising an eyebrow. "Am I right?"

Nino sighed. "You know me too well."

"I really need your help and it's fun to spend time altogether," Aiba continued, placing his hands on his hips. "They are really nice guys, you should know that by now. I really don't see your problem."

"Never mind," his friend replied.

Still, Nino pouted, slightly, and Aiba kept frowning. He had hoped with Jun and Sho being around longer that Nino would finally get used to the situation, but still he seemed to have trouble accepting everything. It was a little complicated, maybe, but Aiba was convinced that these complications could be bridged. He managed to overcome his initial small doubts in no time too, and he managed to befriend both, Jun and Sho. Why couldn't Nino too? Hopefully, the only thing he needed was just a little more time.

"Here we go, Ninomiya-kun," Sho was right back next to them, holding a glass of water. Nino just took it, taking a sip.

"Nino?" Aiba arched an eyebrow at him. Where had his manners gone?

"Thank you," Nino then murmured into the glass, quickly glancing at Sho, before he focused on drinking again. The other man just nodded, smiling happily.

"Alright, now drink up and then I'll leave you two guys with the welcome drinks, while I'm going to help Jun, OK?" Aiba wanted to confirm and after receiving the same from two nodding heads, he showed them his thumbs up and went back to the front of the gallery, just in time to open the door for Jun who returned with his hands full.

"Thanks," Jun smiled, when Aiba offered his help and they quickly carried his stuff towards the buffet area.

"Is your famous sushi in there?" Aiba asked, excited. But when Jun started to unpack, what appeared were only several large white plates which would display said sushi.

"The food is still in the restaurant," Jun explained while setting up the plates, thoughtfully. "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not occupying too much space on the table?"

Aiba waved his hand. "Don't worry, since we're going to serve the ramen freshly, we don't need much space for the bowls. Spread out as much as you need."

"Great," the other man replied. "Now... I might need your help to get all the sushi here, if you don't mind?"

Of course, Aiba didn't mind, and so he gladly followed Jun outside again, accompanying him to walk down the street to the restaurant and pick up the already prepared stuff.

It was unusual to enter the restaurant when it was completely empty, Aiba noted, as normally when he passed the restaurant or came in to say hello, it was filled with guests. Today, though, the atmosphere was peaceful and quiet. Jun allowed him to step in the kitchen area, where Aiba spotted several trays neatly packed with different kinds of sushi. Nigiri, maki, even some of those American type inside-out rolls that seemed to be super popular overseas. Aiba's eyes almost popped out when he saw all the creative and colourful toppings.

There was the already well-known "watermelon"-sushi made from cucumber, tuna and black sesame, but also a selection of other types of decorations. The gunnel sushi was decorated with tiny little stencils of nori and stripes of cucumber, making it look like pandas holding on to bamboo, the egg omelet topping was shaped like bananas, and the sushi rolls rather looked like cute tiny little flower vases decorated with leaves made out of avocado and cucumber, and flowers rolled from thin salmon slices and pickled pumpkin. All different from the typical sushi rolls.

"Oh my gosh, they are so cute!" Aiba exclaimed.

He couldn't believe it! He had seen the watermelon look-a-like sushi before, but the pandas were new, and he loved them! His heart skipped a beat when he realized that it was the man he loved who created them. It made them even more precious, and it made Aiba feel very proud. When he then looked at Jun, he could see a tint of red on the man's cheeks, who was seemingly happy about the compliment.

"These flower sushi are new creations, and I upgraded the pandas with the cucumber bamboo," Jun started, and he even continued explaining a little how he managed to shape everything in the best way. "Do you want to try one?" he then suddenly offered, surprising Aiba.

"Yes, please, if I may? These look almost too cute to be eaten...," the man replied, his eyes shining.

"Thank you, I take this as a compliment, but they are _meant_ to be eaten so please," Jun smiled. He quickly washed his hands at the sink next to him and then reached for one of the super adorable panda sushi, turning back towards Aiba, holding the small piece of decorated rice. "Have one of these."

The moment Aiba lifted his own hands to take the offered piece of food from the other man and parted his lips wanting to thank Jun, the latter was so close to him that without thinking further, he playfully pushed the nigiri sushi directly into Aiba's mouth. Their eyes met, and the tips of Jun's fingers touched Aiba's soft, warm lips, causing both of them to gasp silently. The two men froze for a moment, when they realized what just happened, and while Jun – with... was that a slight blush on his face? - took a few steps backwards to bring back the distance between them, Aiba hid his face behind his hands, trying to keep his composure and start chewing on the sushi before his clouded brain could cause his muscles to forget how to move. All awkwardness then was instantly forgotten as soon as the flavour spread in his mouth. He pressed his hands harder over his mouth, in order to mute a satisfied sigh triggered by the delicious taste. He took his time to finish, savouring every bite, before he dared looking back at Jun.

"Sorry, uhm...," Jun stammered, quickly avoiding his eyes again.

"Delicious...," was everything, Aiba could voice.

"Thanks," Jun chuckled in return, still not looking at the other man.

Then, pretending that nothing had happened, they both reached out for a sushi tray – the same one, apparently, as their hands accidentally touched and they both backed off again. Aiba couldn't help but giggle, trying to hold back the silly bubbling of happiness and excitement inside him.

"OK, let me carry that one," the man then said, taking the first tray, leaving the other to Jun. "Let's go display your masterpieces where everybody can see and enjoy them!"

Of course, none of them said anything about the _accidental feeding incident_ , as Aiba filed it in his memories, and instead, they quickly moved from the restaurant to Ohno's gallery in order to divide all the cute looking sushi pieces onto the plates Jun had prepared just before. Once in a while, the two men would exchange looks, smiling at each other while continuing their task, and if Aiba had his way, he could continue this for hours. However, the opening of the exhibition was approaching and so the preparations had to progress too.

Sho and Nino apparently had mixed the welcome drinks, as planned, and now seemed to be debating over whether it would be better to serve the drinks directly at the entrance whenever someone enter, or set up two high tables near the entrance area to let people freely choose whether to get something to drink or not. To Nino's distress though, this seemed not to be the only conversation topic Sho had come up with, as Aiba noted, feeling amused when he heard the two men chatting at the back.

"By the way, have you already chosen a movie that the four of us could go watch?" Sho asked after he and Nino compromised that they would set up tables near the entrance area, but that Sho would also walk around with a tray filled with drinks, offering them manually, while Nino took care of the camera and film the gallery's guests, as Ohno requested.

"That's not really important to decide now, is it?" Nino asked when he passed Aiba, carrying one of the high tables.

Sho quickly caught up, insisting on helping the young man, and ignored his objection. "We should be able to make it for the late-night screening if we don't take reservations after nine in the restaurant..."

"Can you even afford that?" Nino asked.

"I calculated everything through," Sho replied, determined. "It's legit to close up a bit earlier once in a while and Aiba-kun said that his parents agreed to take over the late shift for you guys. Right, Aiba-kun? Jun?" Sho asked into the room, without turning around, knowing that the two could hear them.

When both, Aiba and Jun gave their approval, Nino sighed.

"You're too well informed."

"Just let me know the movie you're interested in, and I'll make the reservation," Sho insisted.

"I'm still thinking about it," Nino added. The two of them placed the table at its destined place, pushing it a bit back and forth, until they were both satisfied with its position before returning to the buffet, together.

"Oh wow, this looks amazing!" Sho exclaimed, as if it was the first time he saw Jun's sushi creations. When he wanted to reach out to steal one piece of sushi off a plate, Jun flashed him a strict look and slightly slapped away his friend's hand.

"Our ramen looks quite boring instead...," Nino murmured with crossed arms.

He eyed the simple ramen pot in the corner of the buffet table, only some samples of ceramic bowls placed in front of it and the boxes with the pre-cooked noodles stored next to the pot. Indeed, compared to Jun's fabulous sushi presentation, the ramen section rather looked like a do-it-yourself area, quite unimpressive.

"You think so?" Aiba asked, stepping back a little from the buffet, to see the whole picture.

"Ah, right, that reminds me on something!" Jun then said, turning to one of the boxes he brought before and pulling out a plastic box. He opened it in front of Aiba and Nino, revealing lots of beautifully roses carved from carrots and cucumber. He pushed the box right into Aiba's hands, causing him to look back at him, puzzled. "I mean, if you guys want, you can have some of those for decorating the ramen bowls, I only wanted to put a few of them as decoration on the sushi plates but looking at it, it might be a bit too much... and I think I made too many of them, anyway."

"Are you serious?!" Aiba almost freaked out from excitement. He might not _need_ fancy decoration for his ramen, but he would take it if someone offered it to him, especially when that someone was Jun. "They are too beautiful!"

"Of course, I'm serious," Jun replied after clearing his throat. "We're here to work together after all, aren't we?" When Aiba smiled at him from one ear to the other, Jun turned around once more, searching for another box. "Uhm... and here, if you add just a few of these on top, it will pop just by that."

Curiously, Aiba looked into the box when Jun revealed a bunch of about 20 cm long stripes of purple edible paper. "True! That's really impressive!"

When Aiba couldn't resist picking one of the stripes to try it, Jun chuckled. "Hey, don't eat it by yourself!"

"I'm sorry," Aiba replied with a broad smile but quickly pushed it into his mouth, anyway, munching it away. "Hm, I just... I wanted to see if you can _really_ eat it! Wow..."

"It's just a mix of salt, water, flour and food colouring, of course you can eat it," Jun explained.

"Amazing," the other man had to admit. "I would never think of something like that."

Jun scratched the back of his neck. "It's a trick I learned in Paris, actually."

"Fancy shmancy," Nino murmured, rolling his eyes, before leaving the scene to start bringing the already prepared drinks from the back to the front table he and Sho had just set up. Of course, Sho was following him on the heel.

Aiba giggled, and when Jun gave him an empty spare plate, he zealously started arranging the vegetable flowers and edible paper on it, placing it in front of the sample of ramen bowls.

"Looks way better!" he stated, excitedly, flashing Jun a grateful smile when he turned to look at him.

The young man though, after returning the smile, quickly changed the topic. "Say, Nino doesn't _want_ to go to the movies with us, does he?"

"Hm...," Aiba hummed.

"Why not? What's his problem?" Jun continued. "Sho is really nice to him, he even said he'll pay for his ticket and popcorn."

"I think, he's still too shy," Aiba replied with an apologetic expression.

"But... he also avoids me, not only Sho, am I right?" Jun added, to Aiba's surprise.

He couldn't even deny the other chef's statement right away, but looking at him, he also understood that pretending wouldn't make Jun believe him. Instead, he went for the honest reaction. "I'm sorry. I'll talk to him again, OK?"

"Is it my fault?" Jun then suddenly murmured after a second of silence. He proceeded to polish the edges of some of the plates on the table with a dish towel, but Aiba could guess that the young man was simply trying to keep himself busy. "He doesn’t want to come along because he hates me that much?"

"He doesn't _hate_ you, Jun...," Aiba then said. Honestly, he wasn't surprised over Jun's question, but he had really hoped that Jun hadn't noticed anything like that.

"He does," the other man gave back. "And that's really inconvenient."

"What do you mean?" Aiba frowned.

Still, Jun didn't dare to look at Aiba, but there was a cute tiny little pout on his lips. "Well, if someone's best friend doesn't approve of one, it's a bit hard to -"

Unfortunately, Jun wasn't able to finish his sentence, as Ishihara showed up, completely exhausted from taking care of some last organizational things, one ear on the phone, a stack of business cards with Ohno's name on it in her free hand, and still, she called out for the two men.

"Matsumoto-san, Aiba-kun!" flashing them a smile, which seemed to be accompanied by a mixture of stress, slight desperation and happiness, she thanked them between her phone call and welcoming the first guest that just showed up at the entrance and received a drink from Sho, for coming and setting up everything.

The two chefs just smiled at her, and she was gone again, but so was that _moment_ between them, Aiba didn't know how else he should describe it. What did Jun want to say just before they got interrupted? He was dying to ask the young man, however, Jun was already busy, picking up one of the filled sushi plates and ready to go.

"Probably, it's best if you stay here in case people want ramen, so you can prepare it for them," the young man said, smiling. He pointed towards the door, where slowly but surely more and more people appeared. "I'll go make some rounds with the sushi plates, but no worries, I'll tell people to come here if they want something warm."

"Thanks, Jun," Aiba replied, and then, Jun was gone.

From where he was, Aiba had a good view over the whole scene. More guests were coming, some of them were familiar faces, people from the neighbourhood, but there were also people, Aiba had never seen before. Maybe, those where Ohno's admirers from all over Japan, probably, also his patrons. Some of those people stood out because they were dressed completely different from the rest of the audience, others didn't. But there was one thing, all of them had in common. They were here to enjoy and appreciate the artist's work, and this certainty made Aiba feel really happy for Ohno, and even a bit proud.

About fifteen minutes after the official opening of the exhibition, Ishihara took it upon herself to give a little speech, thanking everyone for coming, and announced proudly that Ohno was still working on a new piece of art and that his atelier in the back was open for anyone who wanted to take a look at the working process. The audience nodded, appreciating the opportunity, and then spread out, either to check on the artist, or to take a walk around the gallery to appreciate the displayed art pieces.

Nino started to record the event with a handheld camera and was walking around, alternating places and catching not only the several of the paintings on film but also a few spoken words by some guests, congratulating the artist on his new achievements. Sho and Jun were also walking around, offering drinks and sushi to the visitors, while some people took care to get their own stuff at the buffet. Especially the people from the neighbourhood seemed to develop an interest in Aiba and his ramen, ordering servings and standing there, waiting patiently while Aiba arranged the noodles, the hot soup and Jun's cute decorations, and used the time chatting to him.

Some elderly people who Aiba knew just too well from their regular visits to the izakaya, examined the sushi plates right next to Aiba's "ramen station", frowning at them, obviously not convinced by the "artsy stuff", as they called it.

"So what is that over there supposed to be?" one of the men asked, eyeing the sushi suspiciously from the side.

"That's the stuff that handsome man from that new restaurant made, isn't it?" his wife, an elderly woman with a white hairdo and red painted lips asked Aiba. "It looks kind of cute, doesn't it? Especially the ones with the panda!"

Aiba grinned while nodding towards the woman. There was no chance that Jun's adorable sushi would fail to impress a lady.

"It doesn't look like food, at all," her husband replied, raising an eyebrow.

"But it tastes really good!" Aiba chimed in. "And if you want to know the exact ingredients, I suggest you go find the creator and ask him for details. He'll be pleased to tell you more about his creations."

"Is that so?"

"You should definitely give it a try!"

"Well, if Aiba-kun says so, it can't be that bad," the critical man replied, before he lovingly touched his wife at the elbow and pushed her into Jun's direction, who at the moment was standing near the entrance, smiling to each and every person passing him.

Aiba couldn't suppress a giggle when he saw the couple talking to the young chef, the lady soon reaching at a piece of sushi on the plate Jun was offering her, while her husband still alternated his critical look between the sushi and Jun, before he finally gave in and tried some himself. Aiba couldn't hear their conversation over the noises filling the room, but judging from the smile on Jun's face, the taste test seemed to be a success. After a while, all of the welcome drinks were served and Sho started to switch out the empty glasses standing on the high table near the entrance with freshly filled glasses of wine, water and other drinks before retreating to the back and accompanying Aiba for a while (and have a bowl of ramen, obviously). Jun had just come to pick up two more plates of sushi, flashing them a happy smile over their success, before returning to serve the appetizers to the gallery's guests.

"I think, Ninomiya-kun is fleeing from me... again," Sho started randomly while slurping the noodles and praising its taste.

"I guess, he's just walking around filming, don't worry about it so much, Sho-kun," Aiba replied, but even from his observation, indeed there was the impression that Nino had purposely moving away whenever Sho came close to him. If it wasn't so serious for Sho, Aiba would have found the ongoing cat and mouse play between the two men even a bit funny.

"Probably," the man replied, at least, he had not reached the point of giving up hope.

"You're serious about him, aren't you?" Aiba asked after a small pause.

"Of course! I'm always serious!" By now, Sho had finished his bowl of ramen and placed it into a small box filled with other used dishes, which he promised Aiba to take into the back and wash up. "He doesn't seem to believe me, though."

Humming, Aiba nodded, before he dared asking, "Say, did you ever have any success with people with your flirting tactic in the past?"

"From time to time?" Sho shrugged, wondering about the strange question, but if Aiba believed any of Jun's stories about Sho, the latter wasn't so sure about that.

"If I may give you some advice...," the man started, carefully, Sho's eyes immediately glued to him. "Maybe you should try a... less flirty approach? Even if it may sound counterproductive to your ears, but I really think Nino is rather a _secret_ romantic, if you know what I mean. He likes it subtle. And sometimes, he is easily irritated."

"Thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind," Sho said, nodding gratefully towards Aiba. "I figured indeed that he's easily... irritated. Although I think it's part of his charm. He's very irritated by Jun though, obviously," the man continued, searching for Aiba's eyes. "And I was wondering if it has something to do with you..."

"Oh!" Just after a second, Aiba caught up on Sho's train of thoughts, and immediately, he knew he had to set some things right. "Don't worry, he's just a bit overprotective when it comes to me. We grew up together, but I swear, there's nothing between us, if you are hinting on something like that."

Sho lifted a critical eyebrow. "Are you sure? Sometimes, when you and Jun are talking, I think Nino's a bit jealous," he added, a somewhat sad smile on his lips.

"I swear, we're like brothers!" Aiba confirmed. "Nino is just irritated because Jun apparently forgot about us..."

Sho nodded, and there was another pause in their conversation, until Sho restarted it.

"About Jun... there's something I wanted to tell you guys ever since we came here," he said, earning a confused look from the other man. "In fact, Jun thinks it isn't important, but I think, it is, and that it's time you and Ninomiya understand something. It's not Jun's fault that he forgot."

"What exactly do you mean?" Aiba frowned.

"Truth is, when I met Jun, I found out that he lost parts of his memory due to an accident," Sho started, causing Aiba to frown at him.

"Due to an accident?" the man asked, frowning even more. This was the first time Aiba ever heard about that.

"Apparently, some years ago, he and his parents got involved in a car accident. A severe injury of his head made him suffer from partial amnesia. The outer wounds healed completely, but it seems, he has forgotten big parts of his childhood," Sho kept on, while Aiba could only stare at him in disbelief. "He even had to re-study certain things from school, he really didn't have it easy. And that is also the reason why he can't remember you and Ninomiya-kun."

"I never heard about him having an accident...," Aiba voiced his thoughts from before, still trying to process what Sho just had told him. His heart constricted when his brain ran wild with images of Jun, hurt and feeling lost. "That must have been a horrible time for him..."

"Jun said he lost all of his contacts because his phone was crushed, and the data was lost," Sho continued explaining.

Aiba's eyes widened. "So that's why he suddenly stopped being in contact with us!"

"That's what I think," the other man nodded. "I am convinced if he was able to kind of guess the extent of what he really lost and if he was able to, he might have given a chance to call a few old friends to catch up and everything. But in his case, everything was lost at once and he had no idea where to start and what to do. So after much consideration, he decided to accept the situation and start anew."

Falling back into thinking, Aiba hummed, acknowledging Sho's input. The thought of Jun having experienced an accident was still terrible, and Aiba certainly wished that it didn’t happen for Jun's sake, however, suddenly, there was another thought that sneaked into Aiba's mind.

If Jun had an accident and lost his memory as well as his phone's data, this meant that it was probably not Aiba's fault that Jun couldn't remember him. Aiba had wondered all the time, if he had had such little impact on Jun's life during their childhood that their friendship was just stored away in a little dusty corner of Jun's heart, not worth being cared for. But this new piece of information put everything into a whole different light.

Jun had not forgotten his old friends Aiba and Nino on purpose. It just _happened_. It was an accident, no one was to blame for it, and suddenly Aiba felt kind of strangely relieved that there was actually a reason behind Jun not remembering him, that none of them had any influence on.

"Why didn't he mention that?" Aiba wondered. "Jun and I have spent so much time together now, we've become friends and we get along so well... even if he can't remember, he should try to explain the situation, no?"

"Jun uses to say that since he can't remember what he lost, he doesn't miss it and he seems to have accepted the situation just the way it is," Sho continued. "Probably, he believes that this is how everyone should handle the situation, so he doesn't want to create a fuss about all that."

Aiba hummed, thoughtfully. "You don't miss what you don't know you lost. Right? Why make a big deal out of it..."

"Exactly his words. Still, I kind of want him to remember. Because he always feels as if he's missing something. I can't help but wonder if Jun would be more cheerful if he remembered his past – even if thanks to you he seems to be quite happy recently," Sho added, causing Aiba's heart to jump a little from happiness. "However... I don't know but he's still kind of..." Sho frowned, searching for the right words.

"Incomplete?" Aiba offered, without having to think hard.

He really appreciated the new bond that was forming between him and Jun throughout the past weeks. He loved Jun still, and had fallen for him all over again. However, it still felt like something was missing. Aiba wondered, if he would be able to see the situation the same way Jun did. If he happened to forget his past, would he be able to _let go_? All those precious memories, those happy moments... Aiba couldn't even imagine how it must feel like to have such things cut out of his mind, all of the sudden. Would he miss them, and would he try to find back his memories? Or would he accept the situation just the way Jun seemed to do?

"That's why I wanted us to open up our restaurant _here_ ," Sho continued explaining. "I want him to remember! I want him to become _complete_ again. The doctors said, they can't predict if Jun's memory will ever restore completely, and Jun says, he doesn't care, but I do. Is that strange?"

Aiba shook his head. He didn't find it strange. He could understand Sho's way of thinking. He was worried for Jun and wanted him to find back his memories, which of course, were an essential part of every person's life. But was it really necessary?

"Don't get me wrong," Sho continued. "I don't want to pressure him. But I thought that with the familiar environment, with people he knows from his past, that might trigger something. If not, then that's that, but if it works, I'd be happy."

"No matter if he remembers or not... I'm glad you brought him back here," Aiba added with a smile on his face. "Thank you."

Sho chuckled. "No no, please let _me_ thank _you_!"

The other man frowned. "What for?"

"That despite everything, you accept Jun the way he is, now," Sho smiled. "And that you don't push anything on him. In this aspect, you're even better than I am, although it must be so hard for you... I know you and Ninomiya-kun were friends with Jun way before I stepped into his life. You know things about him that I can't even imagine and most likely will never find out. It's like, although we know the same person, we don't know the same _Jun_."

"And still, it _is_ Jun, all along, isn't it? All of him," Aiba said and Sho nodded.

"So that's what happened."

The two men whirled around, surprised to find Nino standing right behind them, holding his camera by his side, apparently not filming at the moment. The young man frowned, guiding a sympathetic look at Aiba.

"And I thought he's just the biggest jerk on earth for forgetting his childhood friends... we went through a lot together, after all... but he...," Nino sighed, lifting his free hand to rub it over his face. "I really feel bad now. _I_ am the real jerk here, blaming him for things that he's not to blame for."

"You know," Sho cleared his throat after a short silence between them. He even took the chance and moved a bit closer to Nino, slowly trying to reach his arm around the young man. "If you feel bad I can make you feel better, what about finally accepting my invitation?"

"Thanks, I'm not feeling _that_ bad," Nino replied, finding back his composure and immediately moving away from the other man, even before he could touch him properly. "If you please excuse me now, I have some more filming to do. Please make sure, our guests have enough to drink, Sakurai-san."

"I will ask you again, later," Sho concluded from this, grinning at the other man, who slightly blushed.

"Back to work now, shoosh!" Nino then replied strictly, before leaving the other two men behind again, walking up to Ishihara, probably to consult her about what else he should catch on film.

Even if Aiba truly felt sorry for Sho being dumped right away for the umpteenth time, he couldn't help but chuckled, amused by the two men's continuing tag play. At least, the mood was back to normal now.

"What did I say about subtle flirting?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Sho.

"Serves me right," Sho shrugged. "It's a shame though, I didn't even manage to sneak my number into his pockets," he added, showing a small piece of paper to Aiba. "Maybe next time."

"You're carrying this with you the whole time?"

"Of course! Never be unprepared," Sho replied, grinning and fisting his hand.

Aiba laughed again, before he reached out to pat Sho's shoulder. "It'll be fine. I'm sure, it will!"

The other man smiled back at Aiba, grateful for his support, before he turned and went to check if any drinks needed refills, just as Nino had instructed him. Alone again, Aiba let his eyes take in his surroundings, happily noting that the whole event seemed to be a big success. He smiled. In the meantime, Ohno had come out from his atelier, still wearing his white overall, covered with paint, smears on his face, and his hair standing on edge while he walked around thanking the visitors of the exhibition for coming. Of course, Ishihara tried to scold him subtlety for his appearance, and to persuade him to change into a different set of clothes (which she had gotten tailored just for this event, after all!) but Aiba knew that as carefree as Ohno was, he couldn't care less.

After a short interruption in form of a small group of art critics asking Aiba for a bowl of his delicious smelling ramen, the young man fell back into observing mode and eventually, he got stuck with watching Jun. The young chef was still surrounded by people, and happily chatting with them – most likely about the process of how he managed to assemble those super cute pandas on top of a small portion of rice. Aiba's face got stuck with a smile, witnessing the man who always made his heart pound faster.

Aiba felt like he was caught staring, when Jun suddenly looked into his direction, pointing at him, while talking to one of the gallery's female visitors, who then turned to look at Aiba too. Aiba had no idea what the conversation was about, over the sounds of conversations of the crowd, it was hard to pick out specific voices, but when the guest approached him and asked him for a bowl of ramen, Aiba figured what was going on.

"That handsome man back there said that the handsome man over here serves the best ramen in town," the slightly elderly woman said, showing Aiba a wide grin, who happily reached out to prepare some ramen for her.

The woman complimented the rich taste of the soup once she tried it, and Aiba smiled happily, first at her, and then at Jun, who now was the one staring to see if his recommendation worked out. When their eyes met, Aiba's heart jolted. The sweet smile he earned from Jun in return made him feel all fuzzy, and he felt the urge to run up to the man and hug him for his cuteness. Too bad, they needed to stay professional right now.

After looking at each other for what felt like an eternity, in the end, Jun averted his eyes, when someone talked to him, and the moment was over. But the warm feeling in Aiba stayed, as he smiled to himself.

He was a little bit confused after the conversation with Sho, but in the end, nothing had changed. He still loved Jun, no matter if and why Jun had forgotten about him. It wasn't really important whether there was a chance for Jun to find back his memory, or not. In the end, it didn't change anything about Aiba's feelings for Jun. Maybe, one day, he would remember. And if not, Aiba would accept that too.

In the end, it didn't matter. One way or the other, Aiba was sure, everything would be fine.

\- + TBC + -


	6. Chapter 5

The sun was already up and shining brightly, its warm rays making their way through the kitchen window and falling on the small wooden breakfast table. In front of Jun, who was sitting comfortably in his chair, still dressed in pyjamas, a pair of fluffy slippers and a soft blanket thrown around him, there was a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and Sho's already read and neatly folded newspaper.

The coffee was still steaming, and the fresh scent of the brown beverage was gently tickling Jun's brain, trying to wake him up. The first sip he took immediately warmed up his whole body even more. The young man released a satisfied sigh as he leaned back again in his chair, letting the sun warm his cheeks. He closed his eyes for a moment. From the living room, Sho could be heard humming a song but the noise was distant enough not to disturb Jun's – admittedly still slow - train of thoughts.

It was a peaceful morning and it was the chef's only day off during the week. Jun loved his job, he really did, but once in a while, he also really enjoyed not having to get up early and having some time just for himself. He was tempted to take another ten minutes nap right here at the breakfast table. He could afford snoozing off a little, he figured, or at least just sit still and relax for a bit longer.

Sho and Jun quickly learned that the shopping district was far less busy on a Monday than on any other day of the week. The young men concluded that once the new week started, people must be much more motivated to get their stuff done at home, even cooking for themselves, so there was less shopping in general, as well as less eating out on that day. Thus, the two business partners allowed themselves to declare Monday as their official "day off".

Which did not mean that they weren't working, of course, they just did not open up the restaurant for that one day of the week. Sho always had some kind of paper work for the restaurant to do that Jun was just happy he didn't have to deal with, and Jun himself often used this time to browse the internet or go out for a visit to the book store for getting new inspiration for new recipes. He even tried cooking one or two new things, at home, sometimes, and Sho would gladly assist in tasting the new creations.

The only thing Jun missed on such days, although he very much appreciated the chance to sleep in longer, was that he would not meet up with Aiba at the morning market. It had become an almost daily habit already, the two men usually would have some hot peppermint espresso chocolate together or a paper cup of coffee to go and then walk around the market, getting the stuff they needed for their restaurants, and chat about everything under the sun.

Jun had to admit, if someone told him about half a year ago, that he would get up early every morning, voluntarily, he would have burst into laughter. Now though, surprisingly, waking up each and every day was a much less bad thing than before, and Jun couldn't deny that this was largely thanks to the premise of meeting Aiba.

Even now, Jun already thought about if and when he would be able to see Aiba today. Usually, if they didn't meet in the morning, they would cross paths sometime during a break, run into each other at the local conbini or any other shop in the street by chance, and if that didn't happen, Jun would make sure that he and Sho would drop by at the izakaya in the evening. Yes, Jun wanted it that way. Gradually, just like his daily coffee in the morning, seeing Aiba had become just as much a daily essential of Jun's needs.

Jun took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes again, when he realized that it just happened _again_. His thoughts, as so often recently, had even managed to find their way through his clouded sleepy brain to that man. His heartbeat quickened, making him feel all warm and fuzzy and he felt a smile spreading wider on his lips the more his thoughts stayed on Aiba.

He couldn't be blamed if he was enchanted by that man, could he? Aiba was simply a fascinating human being. He was super nice, he was funny, he was reliable, he had a big heart, and he was a really handsome man, too. The type of handsome man that didn't know how handsome he really was, which made him even more genuine and his personality even more precious. Aiba was like the sun, a source of light and happiness, making the whole world gravitate towards him and spin around him, wanting to be close to him, being warmed by him, all so naturally.

In the beginning, Jun was immensely confused by that man who declared that they had been friends years ago. Jun felt pressured and irritated and his skeptic nature built a wall around himself immediately, as he would normally do, especially when people he didn't know – or at least did not remember – claimed to be part of his past. Ever since Jun had experienced some bad things in this aspect, he became careful and critical, in order to protect himself, but with Aiba, it had turned out to be a completely different story.

The wall Jun built between them in the beginning had started to crumble on the day he first met Aiba at the morning market. Aiba allowed Jun to make his point clear, he allowed him to draw the lines around him that he needed. Then, he simply approached Jun anew, with a friendly smile on his face, and his heart open, to get to know and reacquaint the for him "new" Jun, who didn't know him yet. This gesture was enough for Jun to almost immediately realize that there was actually no need to protect himself from Aiba. Aiba would never harm him. Aiba really was a good person. Actually, he was the best.

Looking back to that day, Jun really regretted that he was mean towards Aiba by forbidding him to call him with his given name. The man was just being friendly and cheerful, as it was his nature, and the disappointment in his eyes from Jun's initial rejection, still stood with Jun as a painful stab in his heart.

Since then, the two of them had come quite far together, re-bonding what apparently had been there years ago, even if for Jun, it all felt new. New and exciting. Once, when Aiba accidentally switched to call Jun by his given name, Jun just let it slip. It did not feel intruding or unfitting, it didn't even really come as a surprise, instead, it felt warm and… right. Since then, he allowed Aiba to call him however he liked. With his friendly personality, Aiba quickly managed to fully gain Jun's trust, and apparently - as Jun couldn’t deny any longer – also his love.

Jun never expected to feel so intrigued by a "stranger", and he really still could not remember a single thing from his joint childhood with Aiba, but this did not keep him from falling in love with the man. He could imagine very well, why he and Aiba were friends before, and by now he reached a point on which he was just grateful that they managed to become friends again.

Maybe, there was even potential for more. Maybe, there _had_ been more, in the past? Jun didn't know, and he did not dare to ask Aiba about this, yet.

Of course, Jun had no idea how Aiba was thinking about the whole situation. It was a fact that Aiba was kind and friendly to everyone and everything. He was popular with his customers at the izakaya, popular with all the sales people at the morning market and the rest of the neighbourhood, and his best friend Nino was obviously overprotective about him. All this just showed, how much people treasured Aiba, and Jun couldn't blame them. It was like the whole world loved Aiba, and Aiba loved the whole world in return.

Thus, it was hard to tell, what exactly Aiba's friendliness towards Jun meant. If it even bore some deeper meaning, or if Aiba was just being nice because Jun was an old friend. Jun had no idea how Aiba would react to a confession of love, if he would be happy and accept his feelings, maybe even answer them, or if he would turn Jun down with an apologetic smile on his face. Jun was pretty sure that Aiba was single at the moment, he surely would know if not, as Aiba didn't seem to be the type to keep a relationship in secret. Moreover, officially Jun didn't even know if Aiba was possibly interested in men.

Eventually, Jun wanted to find out, of course. He didn't plan to build up his crush and lock his feelings all to himself forever. He wanted to share them. He had not been able to do so in a long time, mistrusting most people he got to know – except Sho, probably – and with Aiba, it was different, too.

Actually, not too long ago, Jun even almost told Aiba about his intentions towards him – before he got interrupted by Ishihara. Since then, there had not really been a good chance to convey his feelings. Somehow, fate seemed to be against Jun's plans and with the missed chances, Jun's doubts grew.

Maybe, this was karma, Jun thought. He forgot everything about his childhood friends, he had probably hurt them because of this, and thus, maybe now he wasn't allowed to follow his feelings.

Jun wasn't completely sure how he should deal with this situation, and so he tended to push the issue farther back into a corner of his mind, but he was definitely sure that he enjoyed Aiba's company, and that he wanted to be close to that man as much as he could, and as often as he could. If he should drop by in the izakaya tonight again? Or maybe even for lunch?

Jun's day dreaming about how he would show up at Aiba's place and order some of his special gyoza, was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Jun frowned. Did Sho or he expect some delivery? Did someone of the neighbours need anything?

When Jun heard Sho's voice coming through the wall from the restroom, asking him to answer the door, the bell rang again, and Jun placed the coffee mug that was warming his hands right now, back on the table. He got up, wrapping his blanket a bit tighter around him, not to expose his Funashi-patterned pajamas directly to any potential disrupter.

He shuffled down the short hallway and then quickly glanced through the peephole of their apartment door. What – or better _who_ – he saw then, made his heart skipped a beat.

It was Aiba.

Jun definitely didn't expect _such_ a visitor, but he would be a liar if he said he wasn't overjoyed to see that face. Wasn't he just thinking about when he might be able to see Aiba today? Even if it was definitely earlier than he ever expected… didn’t he have to work at a time like this? As far as Jun could remember, Aiba had once told him that the izakaya didn't really take a day off. But there he was, standing right in front of Jun's door and… yeah, why was he even here?

"Jun? Sho-kun?" Aiba's voice followed a knock against the door. "Is anybody home?"

Looking down at himself, Jun considered for a second to rush into his bedroom and change into more presentable clothes. However, he feared that Aiba would give up and go home, and so he just tightened the blanket around him a bit more and quickly brushed his hand through his hopefully not still too messy looking bed hair.

"Uhm… Coming!" Jun answered, before he reached for the door to unlock and open it.

"Good morning!" Aiba chimed happily, when the door swung open and Jun was greeted by the usual, sun-like smile that made his heart bloom.

"Did you just read my thoughts?" Jun bubbled at a lack of anything smarter and less awkward to say, before he cursed himself inwardly.

"Excuse me?" Aiba frowned, slightly confused. Of course, without knowledge of Jun's whole previous inner monologue, Aiba had no link to that strange comment.

"Ah, forget it," Jun replied, smiling back at his visitor to smooth over the awkwardness he created. "I'm still tired and talking nonsense..."

Someone cleared his throat and Jun and Aiba's heads whirled towards the source of the noise. Nino was standing just a few steps away from Aiba, who he was obviously accompanying.

"Oh." Jun had to admit that he did not notice the young man at all.

"Good Morning," Nino said, sounding much less grumpy than usual.

Jun smiled. Things between him and Nino were still awkward, but ever since the day of the catering at Ohno's gallery, the young man had become significantly nicer to him, almost making Jun feel as if they would be able to be friends – again – one day. Sho confessed to Jun on the same evening that he had clarified the situation about Jun's memory loss to Aiba and Nino, which apparently solved some misunderstandings they had about the situation. Jun had to admit that he didn’t even consider telling his two old friends the whole truth about his amnesia, but maybe, it would have been a good idea to do so from the beginning. Just, when he first came back here, he didn't care then, different from now. In the end, he was grateful for Sho who cleared up everything. Like this, the cards were now open on the table.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners," Jun chuckled. "Good morning to both of you. I'm surprised to see you at a time like this, what about the izakaya?" he looked at Aiba and then turned back to address Nino. "And don't you have film school to attend?"

"I don't have classes today," Nino simply explained, and with that, the topic was done, and they were back to awkward.

"I'm sorry if this comes off like a raid, but we're here to pick you up!" Aiba jumped in, excited. "Since it's your day off, we hoped that you might have a bit of time on hand, how is it?"

"Uhm, yeah, but why?" Jun asked.

"Look!" Aiba reached behind his back and with a broad grin, he pulled out a baseball bat.

"Whoa!" Surprised, Jun stepped back before he raised a playful eyebrow at his friend. "Are you going to rob me for real? I will hand out my most delicious secret recipe only in exchange with your family's secret gyoza recipe."

"I'm really sorry but there is no way I can tell you that," Aiba chuckled irresistibly. He then put down the bat, leaning on it with one hand, and leaned a bit forward, closing the distance between him and Jun. "But maybe there's something else I can offer for trading?"

For a moment, Jun wondered, if the young man in front of him was actually making some suggestive innuendos here or if he was simply joking. Deciding to go with the flow anyway, Jun slightly tilted his head and pursed his lips.

"I can think about it and let you know... ," he said in a low voice, allowing his gaze to drop onto Aiba's beautiful and inviting soft lips before locking eyes with the man again. "There might be something else I'd like to get from you..."

"Oh, is that so?" Aiba stepped even closer, raising an eyebrow while a smirk spread over his lips. "I will wait for your answer then."

Jun held his breath, feeling his heart pounding heavily at the top of his throat. He was _so_ close to leap forward and –

"Ahem!"

When Jun finally managed to take his eyes off from Aiba, he saw Nino staring at him, obviously annoyed. How embarrassing...

"Sorry to interrupt your... conversation," Nino started. "But that's not what we actually come for."

"Uhm, yeah, right," Aiba said, stepping back a little. "Actually, we're here to invite you to come along to play some baseball with us!"

"Baseball, huh? Hm…," for some reason, Jun couldn't help but grin.

It was his day off and there were two of his old childhood friends standing in front of his apartment door to pick him up to go play. Somehow, that was kind of cute, wasn't it? He wondered, if they had done this before, if the feeling he should actually experience right now was nostalgia. However, even without any recollection of joined baseball matches, he was happy that the two men showed up and asking him to accompany them.

"We're on a team since forever and want to use the nice weather for practice," Aiba continued explaining.

"In fact, he's the only active member of said team, nowadays," Nino cut in. "I'm just being dragged along because playing all by himself bores him, and the others can't make it."

"The others?" Jun raised his eyebrows.

"Well, from our team in the old days, there are Yuriko-chan and Toma who are still in town, but they can't come with us today because of work," Aiba started listing. "We even invited Ohno-san to join us last year, but Ishihara forbids him to participate because she's worried for his artist hands… He then came along one time to watch us play and fell asleep while sitting on the bench and sketching."

"What a shame," Jun said but couldn't hide a smirk at that image. Eventually, he wondered if he had ever been part of this funny team too…

"So I thought, you might be interested," Aiba continued. "Do you like baseball?"

"I indeed do like baseball, but I… I can't remember if I ever played it," Jun replied honestly.

Most likely, he did as a kid, and even possible, he probably did so together with Aiba and Nino, Jun thought. They didn't mention that yet, though, maybe they didn't want to make him feel pressured to remember anything. He really appreciated that.

"No problem. Do you want to try it?" Aiba asked. "It's fun!"

"Well, why not?" Jun replied with a smile spreading on his lips. If Aiba asked him to spend time with him, surely, he couldn't refuse.

"Great!" Aiba exclaimed.

He grinned widely at Jun, until something behind the young man suddenly distracted him. When Jun turned around to see what caught Aiba's attention, he almost lost it, when he saw his roommate slowly coming closer, doing a casual walk and -

"Nino look, Sho-kun … he's not wearing a shirt," Aiba commented on the scene, emphasizing the last part of the sentence and nudging his friend teasingly with his elbow, who had apparently frozen.

"He did that on purpose, I swear, just before he was fully dressed," Jun whispered towards the two visitors. "He must have undressed just for you," he added, directed at Nino.

Aiba exchanged a smug grin, first with Jun, then with Nino, who just turned around, leaning with his back against the doorway with crossed arms, so that Sho wasn't in his field of vision any longer. It was clearly visible though; that there was a faint tint of red spreading on the young man's face. So Sho's actions didn't leave him completely cold, at least, Jun noted, pleased.

"Can we just go now?" Nino lamented. As always, he probably would rather eat glass than admit that he could be a tiny bit interested in Sho.

Sho, though, took the young man's repulsive behaviour as a challenge, apparently, as he sped up his steps towards his friends and pushed his head through the front door to greet the visitors.

"Aiba-kun, Ninomiya-kun, what a nice surprise! Did I hear you say baseball?"

"We wanted to find some companions for playing baseball," Aiba explained. "Right, Nino?"

" _You_ wanted to ask _him_ if he wants to come along," the younger man replied, pointing at Jun.

Sho, not caring about the risk of being seen by his neighbours half-dressed like he was, set his feet outside and walked around to Nino. He stopped in front of him and leaned a bit forward, supporting his body with his elbow against the wall next to the young man. His face came dangerously close to Nino's and Jun as well as Aiba could almost see the nervous shiver running down Nino's spine at the intrusion of his personal space.

"Do you need a fourth player?" Sho then asked in a low voice.

Groaning and red like a tomato, Nino turned around after he was defeated in a minute staring contest not even lasting a minute. He pressed himself against the wall between him and Sho as if he needed something to hold on to, his face turned towards Aiba and Jun, who both seemed highly amused by the situation. The pleading look in his eyes made clear that this was obviously too much for him to handle.

" _Please_ , can we go now?" Nino asked again, desperately.

"Well, that's indeed not very _subtle_ ," Aiba murmured under his hand, and suddenly, Sho backed off a little, giving Nino more space to breathe.

"Can you even play baseball?" Nino asked his admirer, obviously a bit braver again now with the distance between them.

"I admit, I'm more the soccer type," the man replied. "But I'm not bad at sports in general, I'm sure I can be useful in a baseball match."

"Sure, please join us! The more, the merrier, right?" Of course, Aiba was all in.

"Masaki!" Nino exclaimed in disbelief. "You traitor!"

Jun burst into laughter.

"Then it's settled," Aiba declared excitedly, and Nino had no choice but to give in, too.

He quickly glanced at Sho and – at the sight of the man's naked chest – averted his eyes again, just as fast, before he said, "You should go get dressed, now! You'll catch a cold, like this, Stupid!"

"Don't worry about me, Beautiful," Sho sing-sang, coming a step closer again. "I'm immune against everything."

In the end, Jun couldn't watch the scene anymore and instead carefully took Sho by his elbow.

"We both should get dressed more appropriately," he said, flashing Aiba a smile before he pulled Sho into the apartment. "We'll be right back!"

\- - + - -

It turned out that Sho was leaning a bit too far out of the window with his statement of being good at sports, when he completely missed the ball about all the time and it finally even hit his forehead instead of his bat, and knocked him out.

"Woops... and there I thought, he's _immune_ against everything," Nino said from his pitcher position, loud enough so that everyone could hear him.

"Not against being knocked out by baseballs, obviously!" Jun, who immediately ran towards his fallen friend from the middle field, yelling, feeling pissed, while passing the pitcher. "Now look what you did!"

"What?!" Nino's voice cracked. "It's not my fault he can't play! He... just stood there like stupid and didn't even swing the bat properly!"

"Come here now and help us!" Jun shot back when he finally reached Sho and knelt down beside his friend. It seemed, the force of the ball had made the man pass out, and there was a red mark on the spot where it hit his forehead.

"He'll be fine, won't he?" Nino could be heard from his position, still hesitating to come closer, and if Jun heard correctly, he sounded more worried than he might be willing to admit. 

"Sho? Sho!" Jun yelled, while reaching his hands to slightly slap Sho's cheeks in order to make him become conscious again.

"Don't panic, Jun," Aiba tried to calm down the young man.

Since he, as the catcher, was positioned closest to Sho when it happened, he was already bending over and checking on the baseball's victim, making sure that he wasn't too badly injured. A groan coming from Sho then assured the two men, that indeed there was no need to freak out.

"Ah, he's coming back, look! Sho-kun? You're alright?"

Another groan followed when the man tried to sit up, supported by Aiba. "Ouch... what was that?"

"Sho! Are you OK?" Jun asked, darting a worried look at his friend.

"What?" Sho looked around a little confused. "Yes, yes I'm OK, just... ouch, that hurt..."

Jun released a sigh of relief and threw his hands around his friend. "Oh thank god..."

When Jun released Sho from his hug, Aiba leaned a bit forward again. He was all calm, which Jun really admired at this moment, and checked the bruise on Sho's forehead once more. He nodded.

"The wound doesn't bleed, it does not seems too bad. I guess, if you take a rest and make sure to cool the bruise, you'll be back to normal in no time," the man said. "Or do you feel dizzy or sick to the stomach or something?"

Sho negated Aiba's question, and claimed to only feel a bit dizzy and light in the head, which was understandable after what happened and surely would go away by itself.

"OK. If you still feel dizzy by the end of the day, you should better go to the hospital to get checked," Aiba noted.

"Thanks, Aiba-kun," Sho said.

"Nino, can you take him to the bench and make sure he's cooling the bruise?" Aiba then reached out to his friend, who was still standing in the same spot from which he had thrown the ball, even if one of his feet had moved a bit forward in the meantime, as if he was about to come closer, but still didn't really have the courage to.

"What?!" the younger man seemed to freak out. "Why me?!"

"Because you threw the ball!" Aiba and Jun replied in sync, before looking at each other, surprised.

"OK, fine...," Nino finally gave up and came closer to the three men.

His face was flushed red when he bent down and looked at Sho. It was obvious that he felt embarrassed and guilty about what happened, but as expected, the young man didn't say a word about it. Jun wasn't really surprised, but he wished, Nino could be a bit more honest about his feelings. In the meantime, he had learned that the young man was far from being the cold and arrogant brat he often pretended to be. He was just a typical case of hard shell, soft core. Still, it could be a bit annoying, at times.

"C-come on, Sakurai-san," Nino finally offered his help to Sho, pulling him up and when Sho, after swaying slightly, got hold of the young man's shoulder, Nino arranged their position properly, so that he could help the injured man safely to the side of the field.

"Who would have thought I just need to let you knock me out in order to get close to you," Sho chuckled, while letting Nino guide him to sit down on the bench where they stored their bags and other stuff.

"Let's pretend that was your damaged brain speaking," Nino murmured, letting go of Sho and devoting himself to search Aiba's bag for the obligatory cooling pad, the man would bring with him wisely – as it wasn't the first time someone got hit by a ball in the history of leisure baseball practices.

"Here, press this to the wound," the young man said, handing the item to Sho, as soon as he found it.

"Thanks." Sho obeying Nino's instructions.

"Uhm... Is there... anything I can do for you?" Nino then asked, insecurely. "Get you something to drink, maybe?"

"There's indeed something...," Sho said after a few seconds of thinking, and Nino just looked at him, curiously when the man parted his lips again. "Can I get your number?"

"Oh, shut up, will you?" the other man exploded.

"Is that a yes?" Sho grinned, not giving up. "You can't deny a dying man his last wish, can you?"

"You're not going to _die_ , oh my gosh," Nino rolled his eyes.

Jun smiled, relieved. If his friend was still in the mood for flirting, the situation couldn't be _that_ bad. He would be fine.

"Lie down now and rest!" Nino commanded, pointing at the bench and letting a towel from Aiba's bag drop on top of Sho's lap, before he added, "Something more realistic that I can provide you with?"

Sho gave his best puppy eyes. "May I use your lap as a pillow?"

It took Nino a while to reply to that question, but in the end, he sat down on the bench next to Sho. He grabbed the towel he had just handed the other man, and put it on top of his lap before averting his eyes, and finally replied with a red-flushed face.

"Fine, but only this time, and only because you're an injured man and it's my fault...," he mumbled.

A wide happy grin grew on Sho's lips, and he didn't dare saying anything more, but shifted and carefully lay down on the bench, bedding his head on the _pillow_ Nino created for him.

"Those two...," Aiba chuckled after witnessing the whole scene together with Jun.

The two men were standing not so far away from the others, but apparently, Aiba felt that it was time to leave them some more privacy. He stood up and as if it was the most normal thing in the world, reached out to take Jun by his hand, pull him up and drag him with him. Jun's heart started racing and suddenly, his hand felt extremely warm, as if Aiba's energy was flowing right into him though their connection. Their hands still linked, because Jun would beware of letting go of Aiba, he swore he would follow him anywhere, they started walking, aiming to just stroll around on the field.

"Has Nino always been like that?" Jun finally asked, when they were out of earshot, trying to get his thoughts off the fact that _he was freaking holding hands with Aiba_. "So... uhm... rough, I mean?"

"Well," Aiba said, thinking, before he continued his reply with a smile darted at Jun. "He needs time to accept someone's affection – and obviously, he can't deal with flirting – but when he reaches that point I'm sure, everything will be fine, as long as the other person doesn't hurt him and loses his trust."

"Sho won’t even hurt a fly, he will never hurt Nino, I can vouch for that!" Jun immediately said, determined. "He can trust him for sure!"

"I totally believe you," Aiba replied, still smiling.

They walked on for a while, a warm breeze surrounding them, and Aiba was still holding Jun's hand. It felt so nice, that Jun wished the other man would never let go, even if he knew it was a stupid wish. He didn't even know if Aiba was still holding his hand only because he had forgotten that he had pulled Jun with him, or if he indeed _wanted_ to hold Jun's hand.

Suddenly, Jun stopped, but at the same time he enforced the grip around Aiba's hand, to make sure they would stay connected, even if it’s just for a little longer. His heart was pounding hard in his chest, and his eyes started to trace invisible patterns on the ground, as he didn't dare to look at Aiba, who came to halt too, turning around to give Jun a questioning look.

"What's wrong?" Aiba asked, his voice sounding warm, like usual.

Jun swallowed. He pulled himself together and locked eyes with Aiba, finally allowing something that had started to fluster in his heart, to be spoken.

"Did you stop trusting me? You and Nino?" the young man asked. "I mean... I don't know but somehow... I feel like I'm partially at fault for this," he continued, making a vague gesture behind him to indicate that he was still talking about Nino, but thankfully, Aiba seemed to understand exactly what Jun wanted to convey.

Quickly, the man shook his head, heavily. "Don't say that, Jun! It's neither your fault that Nino lost people in his life that he loved, nor that you had an accident and lost your memories about us."

Jun took a deep breath. His guilty conscious wasn't beaten yet. "Still, you guys _thought_ I didn't care about you anymore. You must have thought I'm a huge jerk. But…," he paused, trying to find the right words to express his feelings. "Even if I still can't remember it, I am convinced that I _did_ care about you guys a lot."

And now, he did again. Especially, when it came to Aiba.

"I believe you, I really do!" Aiba replied, smiling happily. "And now we know what happened to you, and Nino really isn't mad at you anymore, believe me."

"So you think we can really be friends again, all of us?" Jun wanted to clarify, before getting his hopes up too high.

"If you ask me, we already are," Aiba replied with a smile and slightly pressed Jun's hand. "Nino just isn't the type to show affection so openly, you know?" he added, chuckling.

Jun turned around again to look for Nino. Sho had somehow managed to still keep his position with his head bedded on Nino's lap and while pressing down the cooling pad on his forehead. Nino leaned over on the bench, a bit sideway, apparently to scribble something down on a piece of paper. The wind brought the men's voices to where Jun and Aiba were standing, and they could hear them talking, almost as clear, as if they were standing right next to the two men.

"Here we go," Nino said, handing the piece of paper to Sho.

"What? Oh my god, really?" the man asked, excited, as he took it and held it up, so that he could read what was written on it. "Hey, that's not a number," he then lamented, his voice dripping from disappointment. He dropped his hand and started wriggling around in his lying position. "You just wrote _idiot_!"

"Well, It's what you deserve, _idiot_ ," Nino replied before he scolded the other man again, "Now keep still or you'll start feeling sick!"

"So _this_ is Nino's way of showing affection?" Jun asked, throwing a critical frown at Aiba.

The other man chuckled slightly embarrassed. "You… could say so. Well, one of his ways of showing affection. He can be really sweet too, if he wants."

"Sakurai-san?"

Again, Nino's voice could be heard, and once more, Jun turned around to look at him and Sho.

"I - I'm sorry," the young man continued.

There was a pause between the two men, before Sho finally replied.

"What? Sorry, what did you just say?" apparently, he was unable to trust his ears.

"I won't repeat it. You heard me," Nino grumbled. "Now turn around the paper."

"Turn the paper? What?" confused, Sho did as he was told and flipped over the small piece of paper, and if Nino didn't order him again to lay still, he might have jumped up in excitement, unable to believe his eyes. "Oh! Your number?!"

"Shut up now and rest!" Nino simply replied, trying to hide his embarrassed looking face behind his hand.

"Thank you!" Sho said, overly happy. "I'm going to treasure it, I swear!"

"See?" Aiba chuckled, looking at Jun. "He's cute, isn’t he?"

Jun indeed had to admit, that somehow, Aiba was right. It might not be everybody's taste, but he could understand how some people – including Aiba and Sho, apparently – could interpret Nino's behaviour as cute. In the end, the most important thing was that Sho was successful with his approaches towards Nino, and as it seemed, he finally managed to create a crack in Nino's thick shell. Actually, Jun considered this as a quite big achievement, and maybe the first step in the right direction. He was happy for his friend.

A few seconds later, Jun targeted his next words at Aiba again. "How about you?"

"Me?" confused, Aiba lifted his eyebrows. "If I am cute?!"

The other man burst into laughter. "No, no... I – I mean, I'm sure you are, but what I meant is…"

Jun hesitated. This was probably not the right timing to make a love confession to Aiba, but at least, he could use the chance to clear a few things, right? To maybe smooth the way for the future, by trying to put his past, that he even couldn't remember, behind himself.

"Have _you_ ever been mad at me? Because I forgot all about us?" Jun finally asked the question he _really_ wanted an answer for.

"Ah, that's what you're talking about," Aiba caught up, immediately.

He made sure to lock eyes with Jun, and then smiled softly at him. He reached out his free hand to touch Jun's arm, causing Jun's heart to stop beating for a second at the additional touch, and a pleasant shiver running down his spine.

"No, Jun... don't worry," Aiba continued, his voice low and smooth, like it was meant to calm down Jun's doubt. "Deep inside I always knew you wouldn't just let us down. I always had the feeling that there must be a good reason for you to stop contacting us. I didn't know what it was, but I was right, after all. I've never been mad at you."

Jun swallowed. His heart was beating again, now becoming faster and faster with each second. He took a deep breath.

"Disappointed?" he asked. He wasn't finished yet, but Aiba just shook his head slightly.

"Jun... stop it, OK? Everything's good now," soothingly, Aiba allowed his hand to start rubbing Jun's arm, until it slid up and stayed at his shoulder, pressing it lovingly, as if to ensure that Jun could trust him. "I'm just happy you didn't have it worse with the accident. I can't even imagine what happened if you...," he trailed off but quickly got himself back on track. "I missed you and I'm just endlessly grateful that we have been given the chance to meet again."

There was a pause, during which Jun and Aiba just exchanged eye contact. Jun was unable to speak. He didn't know what to say. In fact, Jun probably wouldn't mind staying like this and watch Aiba until the end of time, without saying anything, drowning in his friendly warm brown eyes and feeling his heart pounding fast in his chest... It felt unreal, electrifying, almost magical, and at the same time, strangely familiar... He swallowed again.

"You're too good for this world, you know that?" Jun finally said in an almost whisper, and when Aiba's hand slipped down from his shoulder, to find its way to Aiba's neck that the man scratched, a little embarrassed, Jun immediately missed its presence and warmth.

"Nonsense," Aiba chuckled softly, averting his eyes.

"I mean it!" Jun declared, loud enough to make sure that the other man would look back into his eyes. He could feel his cheeks burning, but hoped, Aiba wouldn't notice. "I'm really happy too that we can meet... again," He continued. "It's... it's like a second chance, isn't it?"

"You're right," Aiba replied after a second of silence. "And I think, we deserve a second chance."

\- - + - -

The air of the night was crisp, the sky above one's head was dark and clear, and if someone looked closely, they might even be able to spot a few stars sparkling down on earth from the endless universe. Those stars looked so small, just as small as Jun was feeling.

He and Sho had closed their restaurant about an hour ago, but instead of going home with Sho to accompany him on the couch for the next few hours, watching TV, until they would go to bed, Jun had decided to go for a walk. After a long and exhausting day standing behind the kitchen isle in his restaurant, he felt the urge to move his body around and loosen up a bit, before going home and calling it a day.

Now, he ended up in front of a school building – of course dark and empty at a time like this – or to be more precisely, on the playground opposite said building, sitting on a swing. The chains that linked the swing to the heavy frame, felt cold in his hands when Jun took a hold of them and from this position, he had the direct view over the street, through the bars of the closed school gate, into the yard.

In fact, at first, Jun had considered to go and pay Aiba and Nino a visit at the izakaya after a stroll around the block, but in the end, he decided against it.

Jun wondered, if he was the only one who considered things between him and Aiba getting a little awkward recently, and he wondered, if he should blame this on the crush he had developed on the man. Wasn't it always like that when people fell in love? First, Jun couldn't think of his crush enough, he couldn't see him often enough, his smile and friendly face, to hear his voice and his cheerful laughter, and wanting to be with him as much as possible. Just be with him... It was enough to make someone feel like being on cloud nine and made the heart tingle, until something started gradually pushing away this silly feeling of happiness. Something that sadly was often more powerful than the pleasant, light feeling that spread over one's whole body when being in love, something that cut in deeper, and managed to ram its claws into someone's heart.

Doubts.

Doubts, if there would ever be _more_. If there would be an opportunity to confess those growing feelings, and if there was even a chance those feelings could be answered. There was never a guarantee for that, and Jun had to consider whether he wanted to risk what they had built now, or keep on being quiet about it.

Of course, nothing more happened between Aiba and Jun on the baseball field the other day. After their cheesy exchange of words, they just walked back to Nino and Sho to pick up the baseball, wanting to play at least a round of catch ball, just the two of them, since they were there already. Nino threw them a slightly suspicious look when he noticed Aiba still holding Jun's hand in his when they came back to the bench. The young man himself was still sitting on the bench with Sho bedding his head on his lap, so in the end, Nino didn't dare say anything and Jun decided to ignore the slight awkwardness between the four of them, once more.

In the end, what stuck with Jun after that day, was the wording "second chance" that he and Aiba had used.

In fact, all this felt new to Jun, but he knew that it was indeed a second chance. Aiba said that they deserved it, but Jun had to admit that he was not completely sure, for what this second chance might be. Just what exactly was Aiba referring to? Their friendship?

Yeah, most likely he was talking about giving their friendship a second chance, what else could he mean? Surely, despite this feeling growing inside of Jun, this did not mean that there was more between him and Aiba in the past... right?

Although Jun's conclusion sounded reasonable to his brain, the young man's heart felt a bit different. That was probably to blame on the fact that by now he was completely in love with Aiba. When people are in love, they interpret every little thing the person they like says, in multiple ways. They might want to see signs for a reflection of their own feelings in every look, word, and little gesture by the other person, right? So what if Aiba actually did not referred to their friendship, but to something in a more romantic way? What if he and Jun had indeed been _more_ in the past and Jun simply forgot about it?

Anyway, Jun concluded, that there were too many "what ifs" in his life recently, especially when it came to Aiba. He was thinking too much, wasn't he? After his accident, hadn't he decided to see his past as his past and his present as the only thing that mattered?

The doctors told him that he was very lucky that he didn't suffer from worse injuries, considering the state in which they apparently found him in at that time. They also told him that the chances he might remember the things he forgot were not zero, but that most likely, the more he pressured himself, the longer it might take to see any results. So, in the end, Jun decided to just focus on what was in front of him. It was all that mattered. He took the chances he got to work on his plans for the future – the only thing he could really remember about his past at that time – he met Sho, made plans with him to fulfil his dream of opening a restaurant and eventually succeeded. This was everything that counted, wasn't it? At least, that was what Jun thought.

Of course, there was a time during which Jun tried to remember. It seemed natural to at least try. However, Jun did not find out anything good from that. His parents never pushed him to remember, and, considering their behaviour, Jun quickly figured that their marriage did not seem to go very well. Maybe, they were never a happy family, and maybe, his parents didn't want him to remember the tough times. Maybe, it was better like this.

Further, one time, Jun was even fooled by some guy who claimed to be an old friend, who Jun apparently owed money. Being young and gullible, Jun believed that guy, gave him money, and then the man was gone from his life – with Jun's money and leaving behind the bitter after taste of being betrayed, and not able to trust anyone ever that soon... It was only when Jun got to know Sho that he started trusting people again. But he stayed careful.

Long story short, Jun soon figured that his past was probably not worth being examined and rediscovered. He had lost the contacts to those people who might really be his friends, but maybe, there wasn't anything good to find either. It probably wasn't worth the trouble. Or so, he thought.

But now, things were different. Now, there was Aiba. And since Jun met Aiba and learned how wonderful a person that man was, slowly but surely a wish was developed in Jun's heart that he didn't think he would ever have again. He _wanted_ to remember. At least, he wanted to remember Aiba and the things between them.

Even if Aiba wasn't pushing him at all, even if he seemed to accept Jun the way he was now, Jun wanted to remember. Maybe, deep inside his heart, that yearning had never really vanished in the first place. Was that the reason why in the end he agreed to Sho's plan to open their restaurant in this area, his old neighbourhood? Jun thought he didn't really care, and just agreed on Sho's suggestion to shut his friend up and to prove his point that he didn't need his past in order to be a fully functional human being. But the more time Jun spent here, the more time he spent with Aiba, the more he felt like – indeed – there was something missing. Something was holding him back.

Being with Aiba made Jun feel good. Very good. He had developed feelings for that man so quickly, and naturally, that he didn't even really try to fight them. But it really started to bother him that he didn't remember anything about Aiba. And that his memory just wasn't coming back.

It hadn't mattered to him before, but now, it did. Now, he wished he could remember the times he spent together with his old friend, just as normal as other people could remember their childhood memories. He wanted to replace that feeling of incompleteness and insecurity with nostalgia and happiness. Yes, he had put the focus on creating new memories and looking forward, but with Aiba, he wanted to share _everything_ , his present, his future, and also his past.

However, maybe, this was too much to wish for. There was nothing coming back to Jun. He had followed Sho's advice to walk around the neighbourhood, to see if there were places that seemed familiar, talk to people who knew Jun from the time he spent here during his childhood. He did. He used break times to discover (with the hope of _rediscovering_ ) the shopping district, walked down the river, checked the bay, talked to people, met with Aiba and spent quite a big part of his time with him, either at the morning market, visiting the izakaya together with Sho, or like on his last day off, playing baseball with Aiba and Nino.

Still, there was nothing more than a vaguely familiar feeling, when being with Aiba, that did not feel like it was enough. Jun was confused. He couldn't tell if this feeling was even coming from inside of himself, or if he was being influenced by the apparent fact that he indeed was friends with Aiba before. With this knowledge, his brain might be playing tricks on him, but still, he could not _remember_. It was frustrating.

The iron chains of the swing, Jun was still sitting on, omitted a silent shriek when the young man slowly pushed himself backwards before loosening his knees and swung forward. He allowed his feet to kick a small stone in the process, that jumped ahead and then rolled over the grass, until it clunked again someone's shoe.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Jun stopped swinging, pushing his legs into the gravel underneath him. He lifted his gaze from the stranger's shoes, just to find out surprisingly, that they didn't belong to a _stranger_. Jun's heart made a jump when he recognized the man in front of him. "Aiba..." 

The man came a few steps closer and in the dim light from a street lamp, Jun could see a smile forming on his face.

"Jun, hey! What are you doing here all alone in the dark?" Aiba asked.

"Oh, I was just going for a walk and ended up here...," Jun replied, truthfully.

Aiba quickly turned around, pointing at the school building on the other side of the street. "This is our old primary school."

"I figured...," Jun smiled.

"It's been a while since I've been here too." There was melancholy in Aiba's voice, as he looked back at the building once again, before turning back to Jun.

"What made you end up here?" the younger man asked.

"Oh, I was just dropping by the conbini but they didn't have our favourite snacks, so I went the extra mile to another store and bought them there. I'm on my way home now," Aiba explained with a smile, lifting a plastic bag for demonstration.

Jun remembered the first encounter – well, _re_ encounter, practically – with Aiba, several weeks ago, when the man dropped a bag of snacks in front of a conbini. Jun couldn't help but grin, feeling the warm feeling spreading inside his chest. Yes, he actually _remembered_ something connected to Aiba, and it felt strange and good at the same time.

"Also got some beer, of course," Aiba added, coming even closer and pulling out some kind of new beer mix beverage with lemon flavour, to show it off. "We don't sell this brand at the izakaya, my parents find it too modern and not fitting our traditional meals..."

Jun hummed. "Looks interesting. For you and Nino?" he assumed.

"Yeah, for me and Nino," Aiba replied. He shuffled over the gravel beneath the swing, approaching Jun even further, until he stood right in front of him. "We planned to watch an episode of our favourite TV-show but...," Aiba pointed at the second swing, next to Jun. "Do you mind if I sit down for a bit?"

"Oh," Jun straightened his back. "No, please, take a seat."

"You want a can of beer?" Aiba offered, smiling.

"How many did you buy?"

"Two."

Jun chuckled. "I can't drink Nino's beer, can I?"

"Then I'll give you my can of beer and I will drink Nino's," the other man grinned.

"Does this make the situation any better?" Jun wondered, but Aiba had already pulled out the two cans of beer, holding one towards Jun.

"Does it not?" he asked, trying to wink and Jun laughed.

"OK, if you insist, I gladly accept your offer," he gave in and took the can Aiba offered, with a thankful nod. They both opened the cans with a soft quiet hiss, and then, Aiba reached out to clink their cans.

"Good then... to the good... new times, I guess," he said, smiling widely.

Of course, Jun saw what Aiba did there, and he appreciated his choice of words, but with respect to Aiba, he added something more, "And the old..."

"To the good old times, and new times," Aiba finally summarized with a soft chuckle.

Jun's heart felt warm and fuzzy. Aiba was just too cute, and he never failed to make Jun smile. The two men took a sip of their lemon beer, which surprisingly didn't taste bad at all, and Jun smirked against the aluminium can when he heard Aiba releasing a satisfied sigh.

"Surprisingly good," Aiba noted and Jun hummed in agreement.

They stayed silent for a while, kept on drinking, and Jun wondered, what they should talk about. It was probably not even necessary to talk, he could just sit here in silence next to Aiba, who started swinging back and forth slightly, his feet still on the gravel underneath him, and just coexist, enjoying the other man's presence. But Jun didn't know, if Aiba felt the same, or if he was rather bored by his silent companion. With his heart beating a bit faster, Jun started searching for the right words to say, when suddenly, he knew what he wanted to talk about.

"Actually," he finally started, immediately drawing Aiba's attention towards him. Jun almost thought about switching directions, but in the end, he stayed true to his plan. "I walked by the school building and decided to stay here because I hoped it would trigger some memories or something... But the fact is, I still can't remember anything at all. It's frustrating."

Aiba stopped swinging, and he blinked at Jun, slightly confused.

"I thought you don't care about remembering your past?" he asked in a silent voice.

"Uhm, I said that, yes. And for a long time, I really thought so," Jun agreed. He averted his eyes, feeling his cheeks getting warmer. "But to be honest, the longer I stay here," the longer he was with Aiba, but he didn't say that out loud, "The more I want to remember." He sighed, lifting his look and guiding it to the opposite side of the street, reading the school's sign. "After all, Sho was right. He said, returning here will surely have some kind of effect on me and yes, it's true, it affects me just... why isn't my memory coming back?"

After a few seconds of silence, Aiba replied, his voice still low. "I wished I could answer that question..."

Jun swallowed. By now, he could feel his fast beating heart like hammering in his throat. If Aiba wanted him to remember too? If maybe there was even a special reason, why he might want him to remember?

"I know, you're not a doctor or anything, I'm sorry..."

"No, it's fine," Aiba replied. "It's understandable that you're frustrated."

Something else popped up Jun's mind. For a moment, he debated with himself if he should bring it to the conversation or not, but then, curiosity won. He turned towards Aiba again, and swallowed once more, trying to work against his suddenly completely dry feeling throat, before he finally gathered the courage to ask.

"Is it true that we... I mean, you and me, that we wanted to open up a restaurant together?"

Aiba blinked at him. "How do you know?"

"Nino seemed to have mentioned something in a text message to Sho and he told me about it," Jun explained, immediately earning a frown from his friend.

"Sorry, wait, Nino is texting Sho-kun?" Aiba asked, shocked. "For real?!"

Jun shrugged. "From time to time, as it seems. You didn't know?"

"I guess, he's hiding it very well," Aiba murmured, furrowing his eyebrows, and Jun couldn't help but smiled, feeling amused.

"Maybe he's still embarrassed."

"Maybe. But I'm happy he's trying," Aiba nodded. "Let's hope things will go well with him and Sho."

"Yes," Jun replied. They were still holding eye contact, but slowly, Jun became insecure again. Aiba didn't reply to his question. Maybe he didn't want to talk about that topic? Aiba told him, he had never been angry at Jun, but what if he wasn't completely honest about that?

"So... about your question," luckily Aiba came back to him, eventually. "Yes, it's true."

Jun sighed heavily. He averted his eyes again, letting his look fall down to the ground. A rush of guilt took over him.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice slightly broken. Hopefully, Aiba could even hear him talking. "I messed up that plan, obviously."

"It's not your fault, you didn't know about it anymore," Aiba replied, again, too good to be true on this planet. "Now things are as they are. There's no need to feel sorry. I admit, first, I was disappointed when I found out you opened a restaurant together with Sho-kun, but I was also happy for you," Aiba smiled honestly, and Jun's heart melted away. "And by the time I found out that you have a reason why you couldn't remember our plan anymore, everything was fine already. Now you've got your own restaurant with Sho-kun, and it's great, and I've got the izakaya, and I love it there too. Everything's fine, really. I'm just happy you're back."

Jun took a deep breath, noticing that he was shaking from emotions by now.

"OK," he whispered. It was everything he could say at that moment.

There was so much more he wanted to say, and do, he wanted to apologize over and over, but it probably would make Aiba feel uncomfortable. He wanted to jump up and throw his arms around Aiba's neck, hugging him close, but that, maybe, would make the other man feel uncomfortable too. In the end, Jun just stayed in place, trying to drown the emotional chaos that was about to overwhelm him. He felt like being on the verge of crying actually, but somehow, with Aiba besides him, he managed to calm down again. Eventually, Jun found his voice once more. He took another sip of his beer, before turning to Aiba again, trying to smile.

"Do you mind talking to me, for a bit longer, Aiba?" he asked, and when he earned a slightly confused look from the other man, he continued. "I mean, would you... tell me some more things from our past? Or, just _something_ , I don't care, just... talk to me for a while please, so that I won't lose my mind..."

Aiba looked at Jun for a few seconds, and of course, he ended up smiling. It was Aiba after all.

"Sure... Let's see...," the young man started, before he paused again.

To Jun's surprise, he then reached his arm out to hook it around the chain of Jun's swing that was closer to him, and with that, automatically pulled them closer together. They were _so_ close, suddenly, Jun's heart stopped beating for a moment. Adjusting their position, Aiba then even went so far that he sneaked his arm around Jun's elbow, and if there was daylight, the immediate blush on Jun's face would have been visible, but thanks to the darkness, he didn't get exposed.

"So, we went to school here, together...," Aiba continued after clearing his throat, pointing with his other hand in which he was still holding his can of beer, towards the building in front of them. "You, me and Nino. We even attended the same class, every year. Except from our first year, then Nino was still in another class, but he always came to meet us during lunch break and whenever possible."

"So he was always the clingy type when it comes to you?" Jun asked, smirking, but apparently, things weren't that simple.

"Well, you and me, we used to be his only friends," Aiba started to explain. "He grew up in an orphanage, you see? Living there wasn't always easy for him. Of course, he had a place to stay, he got food when he was hungry, but he never really felt at home. He was a really small and quiet boy, and at school he often became a victim of bullying."

Jun listened to Aiba's talking silently, his heart feeling slightly heavy about hearing this story about Nino. "But you protected him," he whispered his conclusion.

" _We_ protected him," Aiba corrected him, tightening the grip around Jun's arm, moving even closer to him, until Jun could feel the warmth emitting from Aiba's face. "And he protected us, when needed. We became friends and since then, it's always been the three of us. We became inseparable," Aiba smiled and Jun couldn't help but mirror the expression.

"That sounds so nice... being friends like that with two people from early age," he said, wishing, he could actually remember how it felt. "It's unimaginable how someone could possibly forget that..."

"Don't blame yourself, Jun, please. It's not your fault," Aiba repeated, and Jun knew he was right. 

"What about the owners of the flower shop?" he then asked instead, to keep the conversation going. "They are married, aren't they? Aren't they our age too?"

"Ah, yes. Yuriko and Toma attended school here too," Aiba nodded. "Actually, Ishihara-san was in a parallel class too, but we weren’t that close with her at that time, actually."

"What about Ohno-san?" Jun asked, curious.

"Oh, he's not from here. I think he came from Hokkaido or so?" Aiba tilted his head, almost knocking against Jun's in the progress. "He doesn't talk much, as you might have noticed. But I remember clearly the first time he showed up here. That was just a few years ago." The young man chuckled. "It was fun. He rented the place down the street, where he has his gallery and atelier now, and he had no idea on how to handle everything. It was a mess. _He_ was a mess."

Jun chuckled too. "Isn't he still a bit of a mess?"

"Well, a bit?" Aiba replied with a grin. "It's his nature, I guess. But it was far worse at that time. So one day at the izakaya I asked Ishihara, who was searching for a job back then, to go and offer her help to that new quirky artist. She went to him, and she did miracles. She organized not only Ohno's working place, she organized his whole life!"

"And she does, since then, I suppose," Jun added, joining in Aiba's admirations of the woman's achievements.

"She does. She became his full-time assistant, that's really amazing," Aiba said and Jun nodded.

"Are he and Ishihara... you know... together?" the younger man then couldn't resist to ask.

Another cute tilt of Aiba's head. "Well, that's the real question here, isn't it...?"

Apparently, Jun wasn't the only one who saw this as a mystery, he realized, chuckling.

"How did Yuriko and Toma end up together?" he asked instead.

Aiba hummed, wondering. "I think they hit off together during our last school trip when Yuriko guided our completely freaked out Toma out of that haunted house we visited in an amusement park."

Jun burst into laughter at the image of the girl pulling a man close to tears out of a haunted house. Aiba pulling on his elbow to make him stop.

"She's a tough one, isn't she?"

"We're surrounded by powerful women," Aiba admitted with a smirk dancing on his just so beautiful lips.

Jun suddenly realized that by now, their faces had somehow gotten extremely close to each other. He almost forgot to breathe, when seeing Aiba's warm eyes in such close up. They were _so_ close, that, even if this probably would be the most horrible timing on earth, if Jun had the guts to push forward just a little bit, and lean in... their lips would be able to touch.

However, Jun doubted that Aiba was aiming for something like that, anyway, no matter if he was searching for Jun's closeness right now, or not. They were best friends for years, after all, closeness must be their norm, and Aiba was probably just falling back into old habits, which felt new to Jun only. He was surely interpreting too much into Aiba's slightly ambiguous gestures.

Jun swallowed and shyly averted his eyes before clearing his throat. He tried to calm his fast beating heart down, but it seemed almost impossible. Damned, he had to pull himself together! His actual goal was, to find out more about that fascinating man, after all. About his thoughts, his likes and dislikes, his habits... Whatever Aiba was willing to share with him, Jun wanted to know all of it.

"Uhm... what about you?" Jun then finally asked after a few seconds of hesitation. His heart was about to explode, but he just couldn't keep quiet about it. "I mean... Did you have a girlfriend? Or... boyfriend... I mean... Sorry if I'm mistaken and if this might be too private, but as far as I know, you're single at the moment, right?" the young man tried not to stumble over his own words. He didn't want to sound desperate or anything, honestly, he just wanted to find out more about Aiba. "But you must be really popular, even since back then... right?"

The soft, slightly embarrassed chuckle Aiba released upon hearing that, sounded like music to Jun's ears.

"Actually, I tried being with someone, a few times," Aiba started, and Jun's heart immediately sank into his stomach. "But as you say, I'm single at the moment, so obviously, it never worked out for me. In the end, I think that's my fault. I've always been in love with someone else, but I was kind of unlucky..."

Jun didn't know if he should feel sad, lucky, or shocked about that statement. Of course, his jumping heart told him that he should feel relieved that Aiba was indeed still single, and it was probably also a good sign that Aiba didn't immediately defend himself for not having a _boyfriend_ , so Jun could actually hope that Aiba wasn't opposed having a relationship with a man. However, Aiba's statement also contained a hint of sadness, nostalgia and regret and Jun wondered if that meant that the man was longing for that particular _someone_ that he just mentioned.

In the end, Jun couldn't just stay silent, so he braced himself and asked, "You weren't loved back?"

Aiba stiffened slightly, and Jun cursed himself for being so insensitive, but then the man just continued with his reply.

"Well... I'm not quite sure about that, to be honest," he said, turning his face and searching for Jun's eyes again. "But... I was never given the chance to find out."

"What... what happened?" Jun asked, almost in a whisper.

"He –," Aiba started, but then, both, he and Jun jolted by a suddenly playing ringtone coming from Aiba's pocket. The older man jumped, and he happened to loosen the grip around Jun's elbow a bit, causing both of them to sway slightly. "Oh, crap, I'm sorry, that surprised me," Aiba apologized immediately. He had not let go off Jun completely...

"You should take the call, maybe," Jun, who was still recovering from the sudden interruption of their conversation, suggested, and after quickly placing his can of beer on the ground, Aiba did as he was told and pulled out his phone to check on the caller's ID.

"It's Nino," he commented, showing the display to Jun. "I guess, he's waiting for me."

"Right, you wanted to watch something together, didn't you?" Jun added.

"Yeah, Oh -," Aiba giggled. "I still need to go get some new beer."

"I'm sorry I kept you away from your plans," Jun said, and when Aiba eventually let his hand slip through the hook of Jun's elbow, and got up after reaching for the bag with snacks and the half-drunk can of beer. Jun slightly lifted his own can, "And for drinking your beer..."

"No problem, really!" Aiba smiled. "I'll just stop by at the conbini again, it's not that far away. Ah... It's quite late already... shall I escort you back home, first?" he then asked. "I'm sure Nino will understand."

"Thanks for the offer," Jun smiled. "But please don't mind me, I think I'm gonna stay here for a little longer and finish the beer."

"OK, as you wish," Aiba replied with a smile. "Then... see you tomorrow at the morning market?"

Jun nodded, curling up his lips. Of course!

"I'll be there," he said.

"Then I'm looking forward to seeing you there," Aiba smiled at him. He hesitated for a second, before he eventually added, "Good night, Jun, sleep well."

"Good night, Aiba," Jun replied.

The two men exchanged a last waving of their hands, and then Aiba was gone. Jun was all by himself again, well, with his thoughts and the half-drunk can of beer Aiba gave him.

Even if Jun knew that it wasn't Nino's fault that he and Aiba had plans, he silently cursed him for having the most annoying timing on earth when calling Aiba, and interrupting their accidental meeting and their conversation.

Jun was dying to learn more about the whole thing Aiba had started to talk about. He wanted to know who was that person Aiba had feelings for, who was that person who couldn't make this precious man happy, and more than anything – if Aiba was _still_ emotionally involved in a considerable way... if he was still in love with that person.

Yes, maybe he was already a little jealous... and jealousy was surely not a pretty thing, but still, Jun's curiosity was stronger and all he wanted to know was, if he would ever have a tiny chance with Aiba, in case he ever found the courage to tell Aiba that he had fallen in love with him...

Regardless of Aiba's heart's hypothetical current situation on who the man might love, or not, at least, there was a small silver lining to be seen at the horizon, since Aiba had definitely said _he_ , when he had talked about the person he liked. So, Jun's logical conclusion was that he must have been talking about a man. Even if there still was someone else occupying Aiba's heart, with this, Jun's chances might not be completely zero, right?

Anyway, Jun couldn't believe, how someone could be so stupid to reject such a wonderful man like Aiba, and _not_ want to be together with him. If _he_ was the one Aiba was in love with, Jun would want to make sure that Aiba was the happiest person in the whole world. Yes, the more time Jun spent together with Aiba, the more convinced he was how serious he was about him. He would probably do _anything_ for that man.

Of course, Jun wouldn't force himself on Aiba, surely not. The situation between them was promising on the friendship basis, but Jun still had to evaluate how it would be on another level. It was still also a little complicated. Jun still didn't remember their past. There was no guarantee, he ever would, and he had also no idea if that would have a big impact on his current relationship with Aiba, or not.

No matter what, right now and there, while taking the last sip of the beer Aiba gave him, Jun made his decision. No matter, if he would find back his memory, or not, more than anything, he wanted to look into the future. A future his heart and mind were painting in light beautiful colours, with Aiba by his side. He just needed to figure out how things would go from now on.

\- + TBC + -


	7. Chapter 6

The morning sky was blue, only a few white cotton candy clouds breaking the monochromacy, not even thick enough to block the sunlight from earth. The screen frame that was catching the travelling clouds shifted, chasing a cat that was strolling down the street, avoiding busy feet on its way. 

From the cat, the focus shifted again, now following a young woman carrying buckets filled with the most interesting, rare, and adventurous flowers that her shop could probably offer, positioning and arranging everything in front of a small booth. A sleepy looking man who was obviously unable to keep up with his energetic wife, followed her, almost tripping over his own feet. When the woman took the flower bucket from him and put it down to prevent any damage from happening, she finally realized that she was being observed the whole time. With a friendly smile, she waved.

"It is not unusual for the town's shopping district to be busy, but during the summer festival, it is something special," a voice from the off started narrating the scene while the screen was framing different parts of the neighbourhood. "The streets are decorated with strings of red and white lanterns, which would glow beautifully in the evening and illuminate the dark once the sun will set over the city. Today, since the early morning, everything is receiving its final touch so that the feast can start without further ado."

The screen caught a small group of people walking buy, dressed up, and carrying instruments, while chatting with each other, excitedly, most likely a small band that was here to practise for later.

"Everyone is dressed up in traditional clothes and soon there will be music playing and it will be heard all over the place. People will talk and laugh, children squeal happily, it will be awesome, even better than usual. Spring has turned into summer and the days have become long and warm. While kids are playing around, enjoying the sunny weather, most of the shopping district's inhabitants don't have the time to chill and play. Right now, in the middle of August, they are busy with preparing the annual summer festival."

Again, the focus shifted, this time facing a traditional restaurant within the shopping area.

"So are the owners and maintainers of the popular _Aiba's Izakaya_ ," the voice finished, just in time before a young man, wearing a green patterned yukata, suddenly popped into the picture.

"Nino? What are you doing up so early?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows, until he realized what was going on. "Oh, you're filming?" he lifted one of his hands and waved cutely, flashing a bright smile. "Hello, World!"

"May I introduce, this is Aiba Masaki, son and future successor of the owners of the izakaya. And yep, I just started," the voice behind the camera replied. "I want to hand it in as a project at film school and I thought, I'd better start early. Ah, come on, as the representative face of the izakaya, you can help, if you want."

The other man nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, what shall I do?"

"Just stand here....," Nino started, grabbing the sleeve of the other man's yukata and carefully pulling him into place until he was satisfied with the chosen position right in front of the izakaya's entrance, arranging Aiba's arms a bit for the final touch. "Stay exactly like that... and now just look."

"Look at what?" Aiba frowned. "At you?"

There was chuckling coming from behind the camera.

"No, not at me, it looks unnatural if you look right into the camera, unless I'm directing questions at you, so just look into the distance, OK? I just need some kind of thoughtful shot of you for now," Nino gave his directions.

"OK....," Aiba turned his head and stiffened his neck a little bit, cleared his throat, and furrowed his brows. "Like that?"

"Pft," Nino couldn't help but snort.

"What? I'm just looking!" Aiba said, relaxing his posture and throwing his friend a confused look.

"You were looking so damned serious, like a sniper searching for a new victim," the other young man finally burst into laughter.

Aiba shrugged. "I was just doing what you instructed me to do."

"Let's try it from another angle...," Nino murmured, hovering around his model for a while until he found what he wanted. "Ah, now... look at the cat over there."

"Oh... it's so cute!" Aiba smiled naturally, his eyes followed the steps of the animal across the street. 

"OK, and cut!" Nino yelled.

Surprised, Aiba turned his head at his friend. "What did I do wrong now?"

"Nothing, it was perfect."

"OK, cool," Aiba smiled.

"I'm going to ask your parents a few questions now, are they awake already?" Nino then asked.

"Awake and busy preparing the food," his friend nodded. "Shall I wait with building up our booth until you finished the interview, so that you can catch it on camera?"

"That would be awesome!"

Aiba gave a thumb-up and flashed his friend another smile.

\- - - 

Nino stepped inside the izakaya, slowly, so that his camera wouldn't move too quickly, and he could actually film a proper entry into the restaurant. He took his time to capture the interior of the izakaya, which was already prepared for its first guests, until he finally approached two people standing behind the counter of the bar – the owners of the restaurant, who were already busy with preparations. 

"I wished I could catch this incredibly delicious smell on camera too, right now," Nino said in a friendly voice, earning a wide smile from the woman behind the counter, who looked up from her work at him just in that moment. "I am sorry to disturb you while working but would you two mind to answer a few questions for the audience?"

"Of course not, dear," the woman replied, before nudging the man standing next to her in his side. "Right, Darling?"

"Sure," the man answered too after clearing his throat and so, Nino started giving them a few directions on where they should stand and how they should face the camera. 

"Aiba-san," Nino addressed the couple in front of him once he was done, of course, much more formal than usual. "Thank you for volunteering to this little interview of mine."

"Everything for you, boy," the woman said while nodding.

"Stop calling him boy," her husband said, hinting a roll of his eyes. "He's an... almost grown up man already, can't you see?"

"Thanks, Dad," Nino replied, chuckling.

"Sorry, Kazu-chan. Do we have to start anew?" the woman asked concerned.

"Don't worry, I can cut out what I don't need later on," the young man replied. "So, let me begin. You two are managing the _Aiba's Izakaya_ together for a very long time now, right?"

The couple nodded in unison.

"What is your favourite thing about working at this restaurant after such a long time?" Nino asked.

While the man frowned a little, obviously trying to find a reply to this question, his wife had already started talking in a warm voice. "I like the most that we are working together as a family here. Together with you and Masaki... you two are a great help, Masaki has become such a great cook and you help out so much although you're busy with your studies..."

"Mom, please, don't make me blush," the young man behind the camera intervened. "So my second question is, what's your favourite part about the yearly summer festival?"

Smiling widely, the woman parted her lips again. "I like the most that we can spend it together as a family -"

"Darling, I think he's searching for a different kind of answer, don't you think so?" her husband interrupted her in a strict voice and Nino chuckled softly.

"Oh well but... if you want to hear something different," the woman in front of him frowned, pausing for a second. "Oh, I also really love the fireworks in the evening. Everyone is out there on the streets then, looking up into the sky and then – kaboom!" She gestured wildly, almost hitting her husband.

"Darling... watch out, please!"

"What, everybody loves fireworks, no?" the woman wanted to confirm, giving the camera a questioning look.

"It's indeed a great spectacle," Nino admitted.

Then, Aiba's father cleared his throat again. "I like best that we can sell our best products not only inside the izakaya, but also outside on the street, to strangers and people who might not come inside our restaurant otherwise. Sometimes, we even get new customers through such an event."

"That's a very business oriented answer, I might note," Nino added.

The man in front of him shrugged. "Well, at least _someone_ has to think about the business once in a while, right?" he turned to his wife "Everything _you_ think about are Masaki and Kazu, after all..."

"They are my two lovely sons, so yes, of course!" the woman shot back before realization showed on her face. "Wait, I know... you're just being jealous, you old grumpy man, aren't you?"

Aiba's father sighed deeply. "Whatever..."

"Uhm... thanks for your contribution to my documentary," Nino then said, deciding that he had captured enough of the couple on film and it was time to move on. "I'll get back to you later, then!"

"Have fun filming, Kazu-chan!" Aiba's mother replied, smiling at the young man.

Nino walked back out of the izakaya and set his camera in place to film himself and Aiba putting up the street booth for the festival, before taking his camera again and exchanging the battery, as the first one was about to die. He then decided to take a couple more shots of other stores along the shopping street, starting with the flower shop next door, and afterwards picking other random stores and locations that allowed him to film. Like this, he would be busy for the next few hours.

\- - -

With the hours passing and afternoon approaching, the area was getting more and more busy, more shops opening, and more customers showing up, filling the streets with every minute passing. Nino managed to capture pictures from the traditional sweets shop across the street, as well as the porcelain factory around the corner, and even paid Ohno's gallery a short visit, just to find out that the artist had closed his atelier for today, in favour of going out and enjoying the festival. After strolling around together with Ohno, who he just met outside, and chatting for a bit, the two men's ways finally parted again and Nino was back to filming, taking his time to play with close-ups and wide-shots, different angles and camera settings.

"Hey~, Nino~ how's it going?" Someone in a red yukata jumped into the camera frame, suddenly, wearing a huge grin on his face and holding a tray filled with drinks that almost spilled over, if there weren't proper lids on the plastic cups.

"Not now, Sho-san...," the camera man sighed, the camera starting to shake a little bit. "Can't you see that I'm filming here?"

"That's why I'm presenting you these super delicious, cool and refreshing colourful fruit drinks, powered by _Wagamama Kitchen_ , where you can experience the marriage of Western and Japanese kitchen -"

Sighing again, Nino dropped the camera, the lens capturing parts of the yellow fabric of his own yukata, before it was completely covered and darkened. 

"This is not some stupid advertisement, I'm trying to film a documentary, you know?" the young man said in the off. 

"I'm sorry," Sho replied. "You can cut it out later."

But Nino hadn’t finished complaining. "Don't disturb my concentration, please!"

"Fine, fine," the other man said, but contradicting his words, he did not seem ready to give up completely yet. "I just wanted to ask if you want something to drink, we _really_ have some very interesting choices here. Didn't you mention you like passion fruits? This here is a combination of passion fruit, mango and dragon fruit!"

"Thank you, but not interested."

"It's on the house!" the other man tried to convince Nino.

"No, please, now go and give it to someone else!"

Sho groaned. "Fine, as you wish."

"Come on, now," Nino sighed, frustrated. "Don't give me such a pout..."

"I'm not pouting," the other man replied, stubbornly.

"Oh, you are so pouting!" The bickering kept on.

"Anyway, make sure to drop by our end of the shopping street later, will you?"

"Yeah, fine, if I get some good footage from that," Nino murmured. 

"We are offering our trademark watermelon sushi!" the other man chuckled. "I think it's worth to show!"

"OK, OK, I'll drop by later," the camera man promised. 

"Good, see you later then!" Sho finished happily.

"Back to work," Nino announced, rather to himself than anybody else, after clearing his throat, and holding up his camera again. His face, red from the heat and sunshine of the day, was shown for a second, before the device got turned around, back to facing the streets, filled with people, after making a small detour over the blue sky. "Oh... it was still recording? Ah... never mind..."

The young man kept wandering around, taking more shots from different angles of the shopping street, close ups of different booths, wide shots to capture the colourful crowd, and whatever else looked beautiful in his eyes, and worthy to be caught on camera. 

When his battery was on low again, the young man strolled back to the izakaya, upstairs, where he put some of the footage onto his computer to free up space on his memory card and got another spare battery from his room, so that he could continue filming for a bit longer. 

\- - -

Later on, back downstairs, Nino took another shot of the Aiba couple behind the counter.

"We are back to the Aiba family's izakaya, my – not biased – personal favourite place in the whole shopping district," Nino commented. "With the evening approaching, life inside the izakaya is just as busy as outside. Mr. and Mrs. Aiba's hands are occupied with taking orders and cooking at the same time, while their son is heading in and out refilling the products that are being sold outside on the street, oh, just in time, Masaki," he stopped as he caught Aiba, who was just on the way back outside with a filled tray. "Would you mind telling us what you have here?"

"Ramen soup in cups served with a drinking straw and chopsticks to eat the noodles either before or after drinking the soup –," Aiba explained proudly.

"Now that sounds like an interesting concept, doesn't it?"

"People love it. And of course," there was more that Aiba could show off, pointing to his tray. "Gyoza, made from our secret family recipe."

"What's the secret ingredient, Aiba-san?" Nino asked.

Aiba grinned. "A secret!"

"Smart!" Nino chuckled. "And there I thought you'd say something cheesy like love..."

Smiling widely into the camera, Aiba slowly shook his head. "Love is always an ingredient for cooking, it's not a secret."

"Touché," Nino replied. Suddenly, the young camera man lost his balance for a second, the frame of his camera swayed a little and losing focus, before it was back to normal. It seemed a bit difficult though, to keep holding the camera straight, as Nino's hand started shaking slightly. "Wow... what was that...?"

"Nino?" Aiba asked, sending his friend a worried look. "Are you alright?"

"Maybe I should –," sit down for a bit, the young man had planned to say, but then, everything happened so fast, he couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Nino!"

When the young man heard his friend yelling his name, it was already too late. He lost balance again, the suddenly turning world around him was only captured on film in a swirl, the pictures too hasty and blurred to properly portray what was going on. A thunk could be heard in the off while the frame darted up to the izakaya's ceiling, a few people screamed in the background.

A second later, the camera's lens hit the ground, and everything turned black.

\- - + - -

Despite having decided on wanting to look forward and face fate and love the way they might come at him, Jun had to admit that things were progressing kind of slow.

Surprisingly, he found out that he was much shyer than expected when it came to matters of the heart, so approaching Aiba in that kind of way was a lot harder than he imagined.

Seeing Sho and Nino progressing so damned little (close to zero, to be honest), was not encouraging either. At least, the two men had become something like friends in the meantime. Apparently, Nino did reply to Sho's text messages regularly now, and sometimes he even texted him first, which always made Sho _really_ excited and was kind of cute, but Nino still had yet to accept Sho's invitation for a real date.

The four friends had more plans together now – sometimes also joined by Toma and Yuriko, who befriended Sho and Jun too over the past couple of months – or all of them met at the izakaya to have a chat once in a while at night, with Ohno and Ishihara joining them as well, usually. They enjoyed spending their spare time together, Jun and Sho had settled in their new home very well, and they both were happy to find friends here immediately. All these great things aside, though, there were little chances to just be alone with their chosen one. That applied to Sho and Nino, as well as to Jun and Aiba.

It was true that actually, Jun and Aiba _did_ spend time as just the two of them, namely almost each and every morning when they met to walk over the morning market in town, and Jun sincerely loved every minute of it. Being with Aiba was great, no doubt. It was fun, it was energizing, it was making Jun feel all warm and cosy, simply put, it was amazing. But going to the market to pick up groceries, chatting with the nice old lady from the vegetable booth there, or with Miyake-san at the fish stall there, and being greeted by almost every person they met in the market, was definitely not the same as spending time _alone_ , just as the two of them, although this was what Jun secretly really wanted. Rather than having the chance to spend time alone with Aiba though, it was like Jun had to share him with the whole world.

Well, to be exact, Jun didn't even know if Aiba was interested in spending time alone with him, at least not in the way Jun was planning to do, eventually. Maybe, Aiba's affection was something completely different from Jun's. If that was true, Jun had to accept it, of course, but he didn't want to fully give up yet, either.

Ever since Aiba mentioned that he had been in love in the past (and maybe still was, Jun never asked any further), Jun started to watch Aiba and his interactions with other people even more closely than he already did, wondering if he might be able to find out if Aiba was still in love, and if that person was, maybe, still within the man's surroundings. But so far, Jun was not successful – or should he count it as a win? He wasn't sure, as he had no idea what that actually meant.

One way or another, it was extremely difficult to read Aiba's behaviour. As the nice and friendly, warm hearted person he was, Aiba was nice to everyone, not only because of his job in the izakaya, but because he was a genuinely nice guy. Of course, that was a great thing and it was even one of the reasons why Jun loved him so much, but it also made it hard to interpret Aiba's words and gestures sometimes. For Jun, it was impossible to tell if Aiba was just being his _normal_ nice when being with him, or if Jun was maybe – as he hoped – also someone special to Aiba, just as Aiba was special to him...

It wasn't like there was no difference at all in how Aiba dealt with people. If people looked closely, they could spot small nuances of variety. Aiba was great with kids of all age, being caring or more on the fun, jokey side, whichever was needed. He was generally very polite to elder people as well as women. Although he was more polite to Ishihara, he and Yuriko seemed to be more on a buddy base. Aiba was teasing when around Toma, as well as Sho, with whom he also loved talking about food together with Jun. While with Ohno, he was being a bit more respectful and never missed to point out how much he admired his work. He knew how to deal with an artist, for sure.

More than that, Aiba was a great son to his parents, and finally, Jun even managed to understand Aiba and Nino's relationship, completely. The two always seemed to find things to tease each other with, but never stopped worrying and caring for each other, maybe being slightly over protective, and sharing a lot of interests. There was a time span of a few days, during which Jun even suspected that Aiba might have been in love with _Nino_ , interpreting him as the crush Aiba had mentioned in front of him some time ago, but he soon understood that more than potential lovers, even more than being friends, Aiba and Nino were family.

With all these observations, in the end, Jun couldn't help but wonder, how Aiba's behaviour towards him might differ from his behaviour towards others... if even. Once, he asked Sho and Sho told him that Aiba was being _very_ nice to him, but Jun wasn't sure if Sho wasn't just interpreting too much into everything, since he was rooting for his friend and Aiba, anyway. And Jun had to admit, he didn't dare to ask Nino. Even if they got along much better now, Nino was still very protective over Aiba and Jun wasn't up for drama and didn't want Nino to tell Aiba what he himself wasn't ready to do yet.

Maybe, the easiest way was just to ask Aiba directly what he thought about him, and if he might consider becoming his boyfriend. However, this was easier said than done. Of course, Jun had thought about this option, he even spent hours of being unable to sleep with drafting his confession to Aiba, rethinking it each and every night, keeping the best parts of it stored in his mind, for the right time. However, the better they got along with each other, the less Jun wanted to put what they had on line – their precious friendship. Even if he couldn't actually remember it, he kind of _lost_ Aiba once already, and he didn't want to risk that again. 

In the end, Jun decided to put their friendship first – at least for now. He could think about the other options later. Or so, he thought.

Soon, the day of the summer festival, which the whole shopping district was looking forward to for weeks, had finally arrived. The area was decorated beautifully, everyone, no matter if being there to work or partake the festivities or just enjoy the atmosphere, was dressed up nicely in traditional summer clothes, and almost every shop was represented with a small booth in front of their stores. So were the restaurants. 

Jun and Sho had thought long and deep about which concept they should use for their "Wagamama Kitchen" booth, ambitious as they were, and had been coming up with all sorts of crazy and complicated ideas, until Aiba recommended that they should keep it simple so that they would be able to prepare and sell everything as fast as possible. Because there would be a lot of people lining up for their food, and he was right. So eventually, Jun abandoned his plan of creating dragon sushi, and instead decided on some easier design like the watermelon one, which he was so used to by now, that it literally took him not longer than making tamago nigiri. The rest was rather "normal" sushi, and that was OK. Aiba was right, there were a lot of people and Jun and his assistant had enough to do with handling the orders they received. Sho was helping out too, of course, but since he proved once more to be clumsy with making same sized rice portions, he was relegated to wandering around with a tray of colourful fresh drinks to sell them to people on the streets.

The business was blooming, everyone seemed happy, and Jun didn't expect anything bad to happen on that day, but apparently, fate was against this plan. 

In the late afternoon, when the streets were the busiest, filled with so many people, that it was hard for Jun and his assistant to keep up with all the orders they received at their booth – and hell knew where Sho was with their to go tray at that moment – panic spread in the shopping district, when suddenly, an ambulance car, blue light and siren turned on, tried to make its way through the pedestrian zone. The crowd separated, people jumping to the sides of the streets, closer to the shop windows and countless booths, trying to make space for the vehicle to get through to its destination. 

Looking at the ambulance, Jun frowned, wondering what might have happened, but continued working shortly after, hoping that it was nothing too serious. It was then, when some people in the line before their booth started talking about it, and he started worrying.

"It stopped, didn't it?" a young woman wearing a turquoise yukata and a pretty hair up-do asked her boyfriend.

"It did," the young man replied, craning his neck. "Wait, isn't that right in front of the Aiba family's izakaya?" 

Jun's head shot up.

"What? Really?" the girl continued. "Gosh, I hope it's nothing bad..."

Her boyfriend put his arm around the young woman's shoulder, and they kept on walking, concerned looks on their faces. "There's nothing we can do, but yes, let's hope so."

By now, Jun felt like his fast beating heart was ready to jump out of his throat, and when he looked down again, he noticed that his hands were slightly trembling. He tried to make it stop, but he couldn't help it. That horrible thought, that indeed someone from the izakaya was in trouble, a guest, one of Aiba's parents, Nino or – worst case scenario, _Aiba himself_ , didn't leave Jun's mind, and suddenly, he couldn't focus on his task any longer. Crap. 

"I'm sorry, please watch the booth alone for a few minutes," Jun asked his assistant, putting aside the piece of rice he was just shaping into a nigiri, and wiping his hands in his apron.

"What? All alone?!" the young man next to him threw him a terrified look. "Do you see how many people are lining up at our booth?! Where is Sakurai-san? I _can't_ -"

"Just for a minute, please! I _really_ need to go and check something out!"

"But, Matsumoto-san...," his assistant looked at him as if he was ready to cry, but Jun just _couldn't_ stay there and wait, he had to know!

"I promise I'll be right back and then you can take a break and go eat some ice cream or something!" Jun yelled when he leaped off from behind the booth, and started fighting through the crowd of people from his end of the shopping street to the other end. 

The ambulance indeed seemed to have stopped in front of the Aiba's izakaya, Jun concluded what he was able to see from his place. Or maybe, it was the flower shop next door, which wouldn't be any better, of course. This just fuelled the panic growing inside of him. He struggled getting through the crowd, there were just too many people, and it was impossible to run, so he was progressing very slowly... in fact, so slowly, that by the time the young man finally reached the izakaya, the ambulance was driving off already. 

"Excuse me? Excuse me, what happened here?!" Jun asked panicky, turned to the next person he could get hold of, putting his hand on his shoulder covered with a blue yukata and making the man face him.

"Matsumoto-kun!" the man said, surprised. 

"Ohno-san!" Jun wasn't less surprised, but there was no time for this now. "Did you see what happened? Where's Aiba? And Nino?"

The artist shook his head. "I also just arrived and didn't see anything, but it seems someone fainted and got hurt, people say there's blood inside of the izakaya -"

"You don't know, who?" Jun asked, knowing he must sound a bit desperate, but it couldn't be helped.

Ohno shook his head. "One of the staff, I believe, if I heard people talking correctly, but I don't know if it's Aiba-kun or -"

Jun didn't care what else Ohno had to say, the only thoughts occupying his mind right now were that someone got injured and that there was blood and that it could be Aiba who got hurt and -

"Where is the ambulance heading to?" he stupidly asked the obvious, panicking.

"The hospital nearby I guess," Ohno replied, pointing his hand into a certain direction ahead of them. "It's just a few minutes by car, but first, calm down, Matsumoto-san, we don't even know what exactly –"

There was no chance for Jun to calm down though, fear was eating his common sense as well as his willingness to listen, and instead, Jun's brain turned on speed mode, trying to figure out what should happen next, what he could do in this situation. He needed to go there, go there where Aiba probably was right now, making sure that he was fine, being with him if he wasn't, he just couldn't stay here and wait while doing nothing. He was about to go and make his way through all the people, which seemed to be so damned many at that time, making it seemed like an impossible task. Just then, Jun remembered something, and without thinking any further, he turned around to Ohno once more, put both of his hands on top of the artist's shoulders, locking eyes with him.

"Ohno-san? I'm really sorry but, please, could you do me a favour?" Jun said, Ohno looking back at him with wide opened, confused eyes. "Could you head to our restaurant's booth and help my assistant? I need to go to the hospital, now! I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can but I -"

Ohno frowned at him, confused. "What? But –"

"Please, it won't take long, you only have to form rice balls and decorate them, you're good with your hands, aren't you? You're an artist, I believe in you!" Jun tried to push every button that he could find, and when Ohno still did not look convinced, he reached for his secret weapon. "And you can eat as much sushi as you like once I'm back, and don't need to pay for it! Please!"

Ohno slightly frowned, but Jun thought that he could at least see a hint of consideration in the artist's eyes. 

"OK," the man finally said, and it was enough for Jun to take this as confirmation. He completely ignored Ohno's following "But -"

"Thank you!" Instead, Jun simply lowered his head in a quick bow, before turning around and headed off, leaving a still slightly confused looking Ohno behind. 

Jun started walking, as fast as he could, following down the street in the direction he saw the ambulance driving off to just a few minutes before. He realized that he had never been to the hospital in this area before, so he had no real clue where to go, but his feet were carrying him forward by themselves and, so he walked on. Jun made a quick check on google maps to find his way, and luckily, the hospital really did not seem too far away. He memorized the path and just the moment he wanted to put away his phone, he thought about something else. He was so stupid, why didn't he consider this option before?! It was so easy and still... it must be the panic, Jun concluded, his brain wasn't working properly.

Without further ado, Jun dialled Aiba's number on speed dial, and pressed his phone against his ear, while continuing his way, but just a second later, upon hearing the waiting line signal, he cursed. 

Of course, Aiba didn't pick up. Why wasn't he surprised? If the one something happened to really was Aiba, he was probably busy with other things right now than picking up the phone, if he even had it with him, that was. Oh gosh, what if Aiba was really badly injured? What if something happened to Aiba that was similar to what had happened to Jun? What if due to the accident, he would lose his memory? Lose himself and all these precious joined memories he had created, _they_ had created?

Jun tried to calm himself down, knowing that his worries were drifting off into an unreasonable and irrational direction. Just because something traumatic happened to him in the past, it didn't mean it happened to everyone. Further, it didn't help at all to think stuff like this now. The most important right now was to get to the hospital and check on his friend. 

It took Jun probably about fifteen minutes until he reached the building, out of breath, and probably another five minutes to find the right entry. In the meantime, he tried to reach Aiba again twice, by phone, which the other man did not pick up and during the third time, Jun couldn't get through at all, only an ironically calm computer voice telling him that the person he called was currently not available – as if he hadn't noticed by himself!

Being a complete mental wreck, Jun finally entered the right wing of the hospital to reach the emergency section, and the first thing he did was dashing to the reception desk on the left desperately asking the nurse on shift there, where he could find Aiba Masaki. The nurse was busy, so the first time Jun asked, she shooed him and instead picked up a horribly loud ringing phone call that she tried to finish as fast as possible. The young man knew that the woman must be just as busy as everyone seemed to be in here. 

Doctors, paramedics and nurses were running through the corridors, injured people sitting in the waiting area, children crying. The smell, that typical hospital smell was awful and the picture of suffering, injured people in front of Jun was horrifying, especially when he imagined Aiba being among them. Though, he couldn't spot him. He wasn't there. Maybe, it was worse, maybe he was admitted to an emergency surgery? The most terrifying pictures popped up Jun's mind, the worry about his friend mixing with his own memories about the time he was hospitalized, a horrible time during which he had no idea what was going on, no idea who he was, it was really the worst time of his entire life...

"Excuse me, Sir?" a voice from seemingly far away finally pulled Jun back into reality. He focused back on the reception, where the nurse who seemingly had time for him now, searched for his eye contact. "Can you please repeat the name of the person you're searching for?" 

"Ah, sure, his name is Aiba Masaki," Jun immediately replied, clamping the reception desk with his hands, while waiting for the nurse to put the information into the computer to search for Aiba.

"Hm... it seems there is no Aiba Masaki admitted to our emergency rooms," she then informed Jun just a few seconds later.

"What?" the young man stared at her, surprised. "Are you sure? But I saw the ambulance driving off and this is the closest hospital, he has to -"

"There is no Aiba Masaki here," the nurse shook her head, determined. "Maybe the ambulance was stuck in traffic and he didn't arrive yet, or they brought him to another hospital or –"

Jun's mind was drifting off again, the worry bubbling up once more, and he was desperate about what to do and how to react, when someone called his name.

"Jun?"

Taking in a deep breath, the young man whirled around, he recognized that voice immediately, of course, and literally there was a rock– no, a mountain – falling from his chest, when he saw _him_ approaching, wearing a green yukata that fit him as perfect as a second skin, but most importantly, seemingly healthy and well.

"Aiba!" Jun yelled, the receptionist forgotten completely, when he started running towards the other man, just stopping about two steps before him. "Oh my Gosh, you're alright, thank god!" 

Jun's heart was beating like crazy, and he couldn't resist reaching out his hands to touch Aiba all over, as if he wanted to confirm that he was really there, and really healthy and that he wasn't just imagining everything or worse – seeing ghosts or something stupid like that. But yes, Aiba was real, and he was standing there for real, and apparently, he was fine. 

"What are you doing here?" Aiba finally asked, confused, his hands loosely holding on to Jun's sides. 

"I saw the ambulance," Jun started bubbling. "And Ohno said someone fainted at the izakaya and that there was blood and – why didn't you call me back?!"

"You called?" Aiba frowned, reaching for his yukata's pocket to fetch his phone and give the display a quick check. "Oh, I'm sorry, seems my phone's battery died..."

Jun sighed heavily. "I was so shocked when I heard someone fainted at the izakaya... I thought Nino or _you_..."

"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry," the other man confirmed once more, just before he voiced Jun's second worst case scenario. "But it was Nino..."

Jun blanked, panic crawling back up. "Oh Gosh, what happened, is he OK?"

"He's OK, don't worry," Aiba immediately stepped in, putting his hands on Jun's shoulders, trying to calm him down. "It's just, he was filming for the whole day and not drinking enough and then he suddenly lost balance and knocked his head against a table when he fainted –"

"His head?!" Jun's voice broke.

"Calm down, Jun, it sounds worse than it was!" the other man exclaimed. "There was some blood, yes, that's why we called the ambulance, but in the meantime, it turned out to be just a small injury. Nino already woke up again and the doctor said he's fine. He just needed a few stitches and needs to wait for a bit before he can go back home so that they can check that really nothing happened. They sent me away, saying it's enough for one person to stay," Aiba chuckled before continuing the explanation. "Sho is with him for now."

"Oh, good," Jun replied, releasing a relieved sigh. That also explained why he couldn't find Sho anywhere, he reasoned. "He's in good hands then, I guess..."

Aiba slightly pressed Jun's shoulders, and flashed him a smile. "Definitely," he said in a soft voice. "You OK?"

Jun nodded. "I'm just... sorry, I'm just so relieved nothing bad happened. To Nino but also, to you…"

"Didn't my parents tell you what happened?" Aiba then asked, frowning. 

It fell from Jun's eyes like scales then, and for the second time, he cursed himself inwardly.

"...Actually, I didn't ask them," he admitted. He simply had not thought of that possibility at all, when he started to panic in front of the izakaya back then. "Gosh, I'm so stupid... of course I should have asked them, why didn't I consider that?! Instead, I just fell into panic right away and..."

"Jun? Listen, I'm really sorry for making you worry."

"It's not your fault, I'm just being stupid," Jun chuckled a little frustrated, but still, the relief over seeing Aiba uninjured and alright, was dominating. Of course. "I'm happy nothing happened to you."

"Thank you...," Aiba said, taking Jun's hand and pressed it slightly. 

Jun blushed a little, surprised, but didn't pull back. The slight warm touch of Aiba's fingers made his skin tickle, and his heart beat a little faster again, this time for a completely different reason though. He was looking into Aiba's eyes, the man smiling at him tenderly, and Jun could probably spend the rest of the day staying right there and continuing to lock eyes with Aiba, if he wasn't being interrupted _again_ , this time by another familiar voice. 

"I'm sorry for the disturbance," Sho said after clearing his throat. 

The man glanced at Jun, grinning, apparently, he had witnessed the whole scene, Jun realized, slightly embarrassed. When Aiba still didn't let go off his hand though, Jun didn't do so either, and so the two men just kept standing there, looking at Sho, coming closer.

"Everything fine with Nino?" Jun finally asked, still a little worried, even if Aiba had already taken most of his fear away.

Sho nodded. "I just noticed that Aiba's phone died when I wanted to call and tell him that the doctors said, Nino can leave in a few hours. I figured he might still be around so I came down here. I'm surprised to see _you_ here, Jun?" the man added, raising an eyebrow.

"Well...," Jun slightly tilted his head.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the whole embarrassing story about his almost panic attack and quick misconception of the whole situation that had stressed him immensely and ended up bringing him here, where he was now standing in the middle of a hospital's emergency ward, holding Aiba's hands. Luckily, Sho didn't seem to insist on hearing every detail of that story, and instead just waved his hand a little to ensure Jun that everything was fine.

"Anyway, you guys, go and enjoy the festival, OK? I can manage here," Sho said, smiling.

"Thank you, Sho," Aiba smiled back at him. 

"No problem. I'll bring Nino back to the izakaya as soon as they let him go," the other man promised.

"OK," Aiba nodded once more, thankfully, and then turned back to Jun. While pressing his hand slightly again, he said, "Let's head back, it's slowly getting dark and there are lots of hungry people to feed."

Jun agreed, and after bidding Sho farewell and making sure he would forward Jun's well wishes to Nino, the two men started heading back from the hospital to the shopping district. The city was just as full as before, but instead of experiencing the crowd as a mass of bodies and noises, like he did before, Jun was now able to relax again, and actually even to enjoy the atmosphere. If someone listened closely, there could be voices to pick out, sentences including positive messages, happiness, and of course, there was a lot of laughter. The sky was slowly but surely changing colour, as sunset was coming closer and closer with every minute passing. 

It was only now when Jun realized how much his feet were hurting. Those sandals, as well they fit the traditional clothing, were definitely not made for running. Aiba chuckled cutely right next to Jun, as the young man started walking a bit strangely, and even jokingly offered him to carry him piggyback, which Jun, of course, denied politely. Still, he pressed Aiba's hand that was still linked with his own, in response to show him how grateful he was. 

They were about to turn back into their shopping street, when suddenly, Jun stopped. He couldn't exactly tell why, but something made him feel that they were taking the wrong path right now. It felt strangely familiar to walk through the neighbourhood together with Aiba, just like this, both of them dressed up in bright colourful yukatas, wearing sandals, and holding hands between them, but something was off. Somehow, Jun felt like _usually_ they would do something different. Just, what? 

"You OK, Jun?" being slightly pulled back from the steady rhythm of his steps, Aiba turned around, looking at his friend, confused. 

"I'm sorry but... can we take a small detour, perhaps?" Jun suggested, trying to figure what the confusion in his heart and mind tried to tell him. 

"Sure, why not." 

Aiba shrugged, and let himself be pulled by Jun, whose feet suddenly seemed to walk by themselves, again, as if _they_ knew where they had to take both of them, even if Jun's brain didn't know. Maybe, Jun almost didn't dare to hope, but maybe, his body remembered something more than his mind? 

Strangely excitedly, Jun let his feet guide the way, and he instinctively clenched Aiba's hand tighter, as if he wanted to make sure not to lose him. _Never again_ , a voice in his head added. The two men continued walking through the neighbourhood, even if it wasn't the direction they initially wanted to go, and in the end, they ended up in front of a red, wooden bridge, stopping just before it. Jun frowned. He _knew_ this place, he thought, and it wasn't because he was living in this area now for the past few months, exploring it more and more every single day, but it was like he knew it from _before_. He _recognized_ it. Not the space, not the red colour of the bridge, not the countless beautiful lanterns that started lighting up now as the dark started taking over the sky. He recognized the _feeling_ of being here. It felt strange, but somehow, also magical. For a while, Jun continued enjoying the breath-taking view, its colour scheme changing slightly with each second passing, until it reached a certain degree of darkness and stayed. It had something calming to it.

Jun turned to look at Aiba, who just looked back, saying nothing at all. Jun wanted to ask the other man so many things. If he knew this place too, if they had been here before, together, but it was like he didn't even need to voice these questions, because the answer was lying within himself. 

Jun and Aiba started walking almost at the same time, setting one foot after the other on the red bridge. The sound of the sandals on the wooden surface was familiar. The tone of the red tinted by the sun going down and the lanterns spreading their lights was familiar. The warmth coming from Aiba's hand triggered something familiar in Jun. Something that he couldn’t pin-point but gladly welcomed, and when the two men stopped in the middle of the bridge, turning towards the railing, leaning with their free arms on top of the wood, and guiding their gazes over the river that was making its way through the city, like the glittering body of a shimmery snake, that view was familiar too, somehow. 

"Somehow, this feels so... I mean, this bridge...," Jun was kind of at a loss for words, unable to put his thoughts and feelings in order right now. He looked at Aiba, almost desperate, as if Aiba would be able to help him catch the right words.

"We came here very often during the festivals, when we were younger," the other man said, and it was just what Jun expected. Smiling, Aiba pointed in the direction of the river flowing down, and Jun recognized the area down there as the upper end of the morning market, where Miyake-san used to set up his stall and sell fishes in the early morning. "We used to watch the – Oh, look, I think we're here just in time for it!"

There was a strange noise, like a distant whistle, and then, making Jun almost jump in surprise, something exploded and suddenly, the sky was filled with countless colourful sparkles, separating in the shape of a flower of fire, raining down into the night, until all the small lights were swallowed by the darkness. 

"Fireworks...," Jun whispered, completely mesmerized.

"What?" Aiba asked, obviously unable to hear Jun's whisper.

A second one followed, lighting up the sky again, and it was like the power of the fire spectacle gave new strength and courage to Jun. The young man made use of that by getting even closer to Aiba, so that if he spoke closer to the man's ear and raised his voice a little bit, they were actually able to hold a proper conversation from the spot they were inhabiting right now. The closeness made his heart beat faster again, it was thrilling.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Jun asked his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"Just a few months ago, when I met you for the first time after moving here, I thought you're some crazy guy and I didn't want to have anything to do with you."

"Wow, that sounds harsh," Aiba chuckled. "But I appreciate your honesty." 

Jun laughed. "When I say that now, I'm so sorry, really, but... you were like a stranger to me. Then, when you said we know each other from our childhood days, I was so confused... I never bothered much about the things I forgot, after all..."

"You can't miss what you don't know," Aiba said, and it felt like such a familiar statement to Jun, that it almost hurt.

Yes, that was what he used to think after the accident. For a long time. He never considered though, that forgetting and remembering, did not always involve only one person, but that actually, a lot of memories were joined memories of two or more people. _He_ might not have bothered to remember things, but most likely, there were people, who were sad to be forgotten.

"But this time it's different," Jun continued. "It was like I started missing something I didn't know about. I started missing _you_ and I started hating myself for not remembering you and our time together."

"It's not your fault," Aiba said. 

"I know, technically it's not but... I feel guilty," the other man replied. "By now, I... I just wished I could remember everything, and somehow I feel like there is something, but I just can't grasp it..."

Aiba pressed Jun's hand, making him look at him again, finally. 

"Maybe you shouldn't pressure yourself so much," Aiba said calmly. "Actually, I even think it's interesting like this."

"What?" Jun frowned.

Aiba broke into a smile before he leaned closer to Jun's ear again, as if he wanted to make sure that the man would hear each and every syllable that he was about to say now. 

"Like this, we could start anew," Aiba began. "Completely. We were able to get to know each other once again, become friends once again. How many people have the chance to experience a forming friendship with the same person more than once? It might sound strange and sure, I miss the old times too sometimes, but I like the Jun now just as much as the old Jun, if not more. I don't _miss_ you. I'm just happy I found you again."

Jun couldn't help but stare at Aiba, his heartbeat rising with every word that left this man's lips. Those meaningful words hit the young man right in the heart. Just how? How was it possible that Aiba was able to turn everything into something that sounded so positive and light, that all at once, Jun's sorrows and worries seemed to be completely unimportant? More than that, his words made Jun feel so incredibly happy that for a moment, he feared he could be dreaming them. 

"So it's OK like this, even if I may never remember all of the past?"

Aiba nodded. "It's OK. And it should be OK for you too. We can't change what cannot be changed, but we can make the best out of our current situation."

"When life gives you lemons –," Jun started.

"Make lemonade," Aiba ended the sentence with an irresistable smile.

Jun smirked, but nodded, admitting. "That sounds very wise."

"What, don't I look like a wise guy?" Aiba asked jokingly.

"More like a nice guy," Jun countered with a grin. "But I know you're smart too."

"Thank you!"

They both smiled and kept looking deeply into each other's eyes, the fireworks in front of them turned into a backdrop, still fascinating, but not as much as what was happening between them at this very moment. At least, for Jun it felt like something was happening between them. And if not, this was probably his chance, to _make_ something happen. 

He had been thinking about this for so long now, and yes, he had considered to wait for as long as it would take, but seriously, what was the point in waiting? Today – even if in fact, luckily, nothing bad happened - had showed him once more, that life could be short and unpredictable. He lost years with Aiba because of an accident, and today he feared of losing Aiba again. All this just made clear, how much he really needed and wanted to be with Aiba. How much this man meant to him. Not just as a friend... Aiba was right, he didn't need to care about if he would ever remember their past, they were living here and now, and everything that mattered, was their present, and their future.

"Actually, there's more I wanted to tell you," Jun finally said, gathering all his courage for the final blow. It was now, or never.

"Tell me!" Aiba challenged him with his usual charming smile, and Jun's heart melted.

Jun tried to remember the words he had set aside for this occasion, the perfect confession he had drafted in several pieces to put them together when the time was right, but actually, all he could produce at the moment sounded different from what he had imagined. But, it didn't matter. Those were his feelings right now, and he wanted to share them with Aiba.

"You're not just _nice_ ," Jun started. "You're enthusiastic and passionate, you're handsome, you are wonderful, you are simply amazing, and I wanted to tell you that I lo -," but before Jun was able to finish his sentence, Aiba lifted the index finger of his free hand and put it on top of Jun's lips, to mute them.

"Stop that, Jun...," Aiba said, his look changing from the usual friendliness to something more intense... something Jun wasn't used to seeing when looking at Aiba, something he wasn't sure how to interpret. 

For a short moment, Jun feared that Aiba would kill his confession right away, and panic rushed back through his body. "What? Why?"

"Because if you keep on like this, I will -"

Aiba's lips kept moving, but just at that very moment, one of the fireworks exploded closer to them, louder than the rest, and thus, Jun wasn't able to hear what the other man said. He frowned, cursing that oh so beautiful but oh so ill-timed firework. 

"If I told you that I love you, you'll do what?!" Jun then blurted out his confession towards Aiba, in a pause between two exploding fireworks. Oh crap, he didn't intend to say it like that, he wanted to produce a proper sentence and -

But then, just a second later, Jun was assured once and for all, that his message got through correctly, because what Aiba did then was an answer in itself. Faster than Jun could react, Aiba leaned forward and kissed him right on the lips.

Jun muted, immediately, embracing the feeling of Aiba's soft lips pressing against his, and without hesitation, he answered the kiss, moving his lips against them. That feeling that was now spreading between them wasn't just what he had expected if this would ever happen. No, it was so much more. 

That kiss triggered something in Jun, pushing a button that was probably hidden from his sight, so forcefully, that everything broke over Jun at the same time. All at once, just when Jun had once more concluded, that it wasn't important, he _remembered_. Everything. It felt like a flash rushing through his brain. All the old memories returned together, Aiba's high-pitch laughing from the time he was a child, memories from their joint adventures. Cooking together with Aiba… visiting school together... playing baseball with him and Nino... Having fun during the summer festival, and then... the kiss. 

Jun and Aiba's _first kiss_ that had happened right here, at the same place, and the same time, just years ago. On this little red bridge, with the darkening evening surrounding them, with the noises of fireworks being shot into the sky.

The realization of what all of this would mean was overwhelming. As a result from the shock – a positive shock this time, at least – Jun broke their kiss and slightly tumbling, he put his hands on Aiba's shoulders to find support as his knees became weak. Aiba caught him, stabilizing him with his arms wrapped around Jun's waist. The spots where they connected felt warm. So warm and so good...

Before Jun even realized, he started crying.

Aiba immediately began to panic, his body becoming slightly hectic. He stepped from one foot to the other, and after making sure that Jun wouldn't lose balance and crash down, he let his hands wander upwards, until they were cupping Jun's face. Jun darted a look right at the young man, locking eyes with an overly worried looking Aiba, who was now busy catching some of the young man's tears with his thumbs. The soft brush of Aiba's fingers on Jun's skin triggered a slightly tingling feeling. The man took a deep breath, and actually wanted to _say_ something, organize the mess of thoughts and feelings inside him into a bunch of usable words, but the only thing that left his lips, was a desperate sob.

"Uhm… Jun? Jun, what's wrong?" Aiba finally managed to ask. "Am I such a bad kisser?!" he asked, slightly hysteric and if Jun wasn't so busy with crying, he would probably laugh at that cute, silly reaction of the other man.

"Aiba-chan...," he finally produced, still sobbing and his whole body shaking.

Jun just felt so overwhelmed from everything, the atmosphere around them, Aiba right in front of him, the kiss, all those precious memories coming back all at once and melting with their present reality. There were too many feelings inside him and he had no idea how to express them properly, so all that came out where tears and more tears, running down his cheeks, big and hot.

Without any further hesitation, Aiba leaped forward and pulled Jun into a hug, wrapping his arms around him as tight as possible without making the younger man suffocate and pressing him close to his chest. He tried to calm Jun down with soothing noises and slightly rocking back and forth, while rubbing over Jun's back with caressing movements. Jun was overwhelmed by the warmth spreading from Aiba, which was muffling him like a protective cloak, and shutting him away from whatever was outside and could possibly hurt him. Still, somehow, Jun managed to lift his trembling arms and put them around Aiba's back, pressing him closer, and answering Aiba's embrace.

"Wait... how did you just call me?" Aiba suddenly asked, pulling back a little and staring at the other man in disbelief, while he brushed away some more of Jun's tears with one hand.

Jun reached up to circle his arms around Aiba and burying his face in the crook of his neck.

"I called you Aiba-chan," he repeated in almost a whisper. "Like I always used to call you, right?"

"Yes but that was when you still...," Aiba blanked and his eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, Jun, don't tell me you -"

Jun nodded, releasing another sob when he slowly loosened their embrace again and stepped back a little again to look into the other man's eyes. He smiled.

"I remember," he said, his voice slightly cracking from all the crying, but he was trying his best to get hold of himself again. "Everything. I remember this. I remember _us_."

After staring at Jun for a few seconds, not able to say anything at all, it was Aiba now, who teared up, large tear drops falling down from his lashes faster than he could reach up to wipe his tears away. Well, there was probably no meaning in hiding them, as they _both_ were crying now, anyway. 

"You are so beautiful," Jun said, smiling, and released a chuckle when he saw Aiba blushing.

"Wha-what are you talking about, suddenly?" Aiba asked, a bit confused, sniffling, as his tears slowly ebbed away again.

"I just appreciated that you've become such a fine man, Aiba-chan," Jun grinned. "Not that you weren’t already handsome back then, I may add..."

Aiba chuckled, still a bit embarrassed. "I guess, we're a handsome couple, then."

"A couple?" Jun prompted, now being the one to blush.

"I-I'm sorry, I just… I assumed… I guess, I hoped –," Aiba started stuttering, being so adorable, that Jun almost couldn't bear it. 

"We are!" the young man exclaimed. "A couple, I mean... If you want that."

Aiba looked at Jun, his big eyes still a bit shiny from the happy tears he cried before, and they were just so beautiful. 

"Do _you_ want that?" the slightly taller man then asked, curving his lips into a cute and slightly shy smile.

Jun's heart made a jump and he couldn't help but smile from one ear to the other. He nodded heavily. "You can be sure about that!"

"Oh gosh, I've been waiting so long for this to happen, you have no idea…". 

"Wait... does this mean that _I_ was the one you liked but didn't know if he likes you back?" Jun asked. The question of Aiba's mysterious crush had bothered him ever since he mentioned it when they met in front of their old school. He never would have suspected though that _he_ could be the one Aiba had been referring to...

"Yes!"

"I can't believe it...," Jun said, clutching his hands in front of his mouth.

"Jun," Aiba asked in a serious voice, making the other man look at him again. "Let me ask you this, officially," he cleared his voice and straightening up a little more. "Would you like to become my boyfriend?"

Not even able to answer properly, Jun just leaped forward, throwing his arms around Aiba – his now _boyfriend_ , how crazy did that sound – once more, and closed his eyes, when he leaned in to connect their lips again. He tried his best to make it a slow and tender kiss, enjoying Aiba's soft lips against his. It was hard to hold back all of their emotions, and so, very soon, their kiss became hotter, more passionate, and they just couldn't get enough of each other.

"Yes, I'd love to," Jun finally answered Aiba's question, just in case there was still a need to voice it. "Just in case you couldn't figure out by yourself."

They both laughed, smiled at each other and then they kissed again and again, until the fireworks were over, the night darkened, and Jun's cell phone could be heard ringing. It was his assistant, complaining that he was unable to watch over Jun's booth any longer and that Ohno had started eating sushi when he became hungry, so he wasn't any helpful anymore either. So, the two men decided to finally walk back together to release the man from his involuntary task and to support Jun's assistant at least for the last couple of hours. 

As they walked down the streets, passing hundreds of people who were laughing, enjoying their time with their families and friends, Aiba and Jun's hands were again connected between them. It was true, what they both said before their kiss. If Jun remembered their past or not, it didn't change the fact that they found each other again, became friends again, and that they fell in love with each other – again, as they now both knew. They wanted to look forward, together. But just having the opportunity, to look back together too, at times, was a very nice bonus.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes @ Chapter 6: So... that's it, guys... is it? Almost. There's still a small epilogue to post which I will do... maybe on Saturday if you like and if I can manage timewise. I hope you enjoyed the story so far, even if it turned a bit cheesier than I intended it to become xD See you next time ^^


	8. Epilogue

_\- - + Three months later + - -_

"Satomi-cha~n," Ohno sing sang, putting an arm around the woman's shoulders, who just arrived at the izakaya, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Seriously, how many beers did you have? You're reeking," the woman said, trying to push the artist's arm from her shoulder. She looked quite upset, and Aiba wondered, what – again – might have happened between the two of them. So far, he only could extract from Ohno that he and Ishihara had a fight about something work related, but the man did not shared any details and instead preferred to drown his sorrow in beer.

"I want t-to tell you that you look byuu-beautiffful today, seriously," Ohno tried his best to convey the compliment. 

Aiba knew that the man really meant that, as he had mentioned before, how pretty Ishihara was in his eyes. Multiple times. It was a first though that Aiba heard him saying that directly into the woman's face.

"What?!" Ishihara puffed up her cheeks, and put her hands on her hips. "You say that as if I don't look beautiful every day!"

"I love how confident she is," Ohno murmured towards Aiba, who chuckled and nodded agreeing.

"He's drunk, we're going," Ishihara noted, sending Aiba a slightly desperate look.

"I'm sorry, I should have made him stop drinking after the second beer," the chef said, smiling apologetically at the young woman.

"It's not your fault, thanks for calling me," she replied, reaching for her wallet and paying Aiba for whatever Ohno had consumed that evening.

"I'm not d-drunk, I can still hold a paint brush, I swear," Ohno said, trying to counter his assistant's statement, before leaning a bit closer, to whisper something into the woman's ear. "I can paint _you_ , if you wanna... ya know, like that one time... without any-"

Before the man could even finish his sentence – although the critical exchange of looks between Aiba and Nino assured Aiba that they were both thinking the same, about how the artist's whole offer might have sounded – the woman stopped him.

"I said you're reeking from beer, stop that!" Ishihara exclaimed, turning her head away from Ohno's to escape his alcohol breath, and rolling her eyes, but this time, she let Ohno put his arm around her neck without pushing him away when he murmured something about not being able to walk by himself any longer.

Aiba smirked when he saw the slight red blush on the woman's cheeks as she grabbed the artist's hand and held him tight around his waist before wishing Aiba and Nino a good night and approached the exit. Ohno seemed to make use of the situation and pressed as close against the woman as possible, and Ishihara continued to bicker at him until they reached the door. Aiba had a hard time to hold back his laughter.

"Don't catch a cold, Ohno-san!" the chef finally yelled behind the strange couple when Ishihara opened the door and a cold night chill came into the room.

"Won't do that, or I couldn't come to eat your ramen tomorrowow," the artist replied, looking back over his shoulder and stumbling over the last word, while waving at Aiba and Nino before he and Ishihara left the place for good, the soft jingle of the bell hanging over the door bidding them farewell.

"I'm impressed he was still able to pronounce _seriously_ correctly," Nino said smirking, when he and Aiba exchanged another look.

"Especially since _beautiful_ suddenly seemed to be such a difficult word," Aiba replied with a chuckle.

"Well, that was for a different reason, maybe," his friend added with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Possible," Aiba murmured, his lips still forming a smile.

Nobody would come and enter their place for the night, Ohno was their last guest for the evening, and so, the two men decided to start wrapping everything up for tonight. While Nino went to collect the last few empty dishes spread over the tables in the front part of the restaurant, and wiped the surfaces in the process, Aiba sorted some bottles of different beverage behind the bar that they wouldn't need any longer, and filled the sink with water to wash up.

"Oh, Ohno-san left his sketchbook," Aiba noticed, as he reached for the empty beer glass ad spotted the object lying on the counter. "Nino, would you mind and -"

His friend was back at the bar already, pushing some empty dishes into Aiba's hands and then went around to grab the sketchbook, nodding, before rushing through the izakaya and out of the door. When he came back, just about two minutes later, the young man was shivering, and rubbing his arms while complaining how cold it was outside. Thankfully, it was easy to warm up quickly in the izakaya. The air inside was always warm and cosy due to the presence of people, and, of course, the cooking.

"You should have worn a jacket," Aiba scolded his friend, who then just waved off, as everything seemed fine again. "You reached them?"

"They weren't far yet," Nino shrugged and returned to cleaning the empty tables.

"Good," Aiba replied and he couldn't help but release a giggle as he imagined Ohno and Ishihara trying to reach the gallery walking straight. 

He stopped, when he tried to remember if the two were wearing warm clothes, and sighed when he recollected Ishihara wearing a beige coat and Ohno-san a thick sweater. It wasn't that far to walk, but still, the days were becoming shorter and the temperature was dropping more and more, so at least during night hours, it had become quite chilly already. 

Aiba could not believe how fast the last few months passed, but considering how eventful they had been, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. 

In spring, something happened, that Aiba had already almost given up hoping for – his first love, and best friend, next to Nino, of course, from childhood days had returned to their neighbourhood - Jun. It was a shock at first, not because of Jun's return itself, but because Jun did not seem to remember Aiba and the old times they spent together as kids and teenagers at all, and of course, he had also forgotten their joint dream of opening up a restaurant together one day. Aiba overcame the shock quite quickly, just being happy that Jun was back, and excited to get to know him again and become his friend again, which worked surprisingly well. 

In summer, they got closer and closer to each other, but while Aiba wasn't surprised to find out that he was still in love with Jun, it was a surprise for him to find out, that Jun had apparently fallen in love with him too. The summer festival and a chain of incidents then turned out to be the necessary last thing to bring back Jun's memory, and since then, everything was awesome.

It was autumn now, while outside the leaves were starting to fall from the trees, within Aiba and Jun's heart, their love for each other was blossoming, finding new peaks all over again, and keeping the butterflies in their stomachs busy. Since they were both very occupied as chefs in their respective restaurants, there wasn't much time they could spend together. But they tried to make the best out of it and for the upcoming winter months the next year, they even already had some plans together... 

"Just in time," Nino murmured as he checked the clock behind Aiba after dropping off the last bowl of finished edamame on the counter next to the sink.

Aiba smirked silently at his friend, who, while Aiba grabbed the bowl to dispose the empty edamame peels, started to undo his apron and was up and away upstairs in record time, just to return a few minutes later, completely changed in a set of – for Nino's standards – extraordinary fashionable clothes, which composed of a really neat looking red-black patterned bottom up shirt and a tight pair of jeans. He was carrying a jacket underneath his arm – he was willing to learn, after all - and he even seemed to have used a bit of wax to try styling his hair in a slightly different way from usual, freeing his forehead from his usual mob of black bangs.

"Uhm... what?" Nino asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend, when Aiba caught himself grinning at the younger man. "Do I... look weird or something?" Nino added nervously, his voice cracking slightly.

"No, no," Aiba replied, breaking out into a sincere laugh. "I think you look mature and kind of cute at the same time. He will definitely like it."

"OK...," Nino said, releasing a sigh of relief while running his fingers through his hair just to realize that it felt quite greasy. "Damned, I'm not used to this shit...," the man noted with a slightly disgusted face and gratefully took the wet kitchen towel Aiba handed him, to wipe his hand.

"Just keep your hands away from that," the older man recommended, earning a quick nod by his friend.

"So... I'm off now," Nino announced, pushing his hands in his navy jeans' pockets. "… Bringing the new flyers to Jun and Sho…"

"Tell Sho to take good care of you and make sure you drink enough!" Aiba replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rolling his eyes at his friend's teasing, Nino replied. "I can take care of myself, thank you!"

"Well, we all know how _that_ ended," Aiba added with a triumphant grin, flashing his perfect line of teeth at the other man as he referred to the small disaster that happened during the summer festival a few months ago.

"That was... fate," Nino replied, freeing one of his hands from his pockets to add a dramatic gesture. "All those happenings, in the end, fell right into place and even resulted in you and Jun getting together, after all," he tilted his head and locked eyes with Aiba while finishing his point. "Right?"

Aiba couldn't help but grin like a fool before nodding heavily.

"If that wasn't so true I'd say storyteller Nino is at work," the man then added with a soft giggle.

"Believe me, I would never write such a cheesy script," his friend groaned as a reply.

"Life tells the most beautiful stories."

"Then it's good they don't turn _everything_ into a movie," Nino countered, slightly sticking out his tongue between his smirking lips.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Aiba replied, chuckling.

"Nothing. Just enjoy the gift of fate," Nino ended the teasing with a soft smile and Aiba gladly accepted it.

"Same goes for you," he answered, but _he_ wasn't quite finished yet with teasing his friend. Just a tiny little bit more. He wiggled his eyebrows. "You and Sho."

Nino rolled his eyes, but the cute red blush on his face that Aiba liked so much, was back, instantly.

"We're only meeting," the young man replied in an annoyed tone.

"You're having a _date_!" Aiba almost exploded from excitement though. "Aren't you going to the late-night screening of that new movie after you dropped the flyers? Without me and Jun, I want to add, so it's technically your _first real, official, non-double date_ with Sho!"

"Stop calling it a _date_ , please, it's making me nervous and sounds way too cheesy," Nino replied, his red blush suddenly vanished in favour of a blank white face.

"I bet, secretly, you're the cheesiest out of all of us."

"Nobody can beat you and Jun." 

At least, the young man hadn't lost his quick tongue. And he was probably right, but Aiba didn't want to voluntarily give Nino that point.

"Anyway, enjoy the movie!" Aiba chuckled, making a shooing gesture. "Now hurry, or do you want to make Prince Charming wait?"

"I'm off then," Nino replied as he started to walk, ignoring his friend's last comment, but then, Aiba noticed something else.

"You forgot the flyers!"

"Oh for f-" Quickly, Nino turned around to come back behind the counter and fetching the prepared stack of paper to advertise the izakaya as "the traditional side of the district", that he had planned to take with him to lay out in Jun and Sho's restaurant, as they offered as part of their new _deal_.

"You're so adorable when you're being nervous, Kazu-chan," Aiba sing-sang happily. Seeing his dear friend like this really made his heart bloom.

"I'm not!" the young man countered, but the red was back to his face without doubt.

"Anyway, don't come home without kissing your boyfriend good night!" Aiba sent a failed wink after his friend, knowing that they weren't _that_ far yet, but in his opinion, today could definitely be _the_ chance.

"Stop it!" Nino whined, but Aiba definitely noticed that his friend did not deny calling Sho his _boyfriend_ , and that alone said a lot.

When Nino was about to open the door, he stumbled a bit backwards in surprise, murmuring a "Sorry, didn't see you", that made Aiba crane his neck curiously to see what was going on by the door. It was Jun, who apparently had just showed up in front of the izakaya's door the moment Nino opened it. The young man was holding a tray, and probably carrying the other part of the _deal_ between the two restaurants.

"Hey Nino! Off to your date with Sho?" Jun asked grinning, after his friend let him inside.

"Gosh, can you guys just stop that, please, it's _not_ a date!" Nino replied and since Aiba could only see his back, he just could imagine his friend rolling his eyes, unnerved, once more.

Jun gave him a strict look. "Don't tell him that, Sho is looking forward to your date for weeks, what am I talking about, _months_. He even bought you a flower crown for this occasion!"

There was a moment of silence during which Nino just blinked his eyes at Jun, and Jun blinked back at Nino.

"You're joking, aren't you?" Nino finally asked, his voice completely serious.

"Am I?" Jun gave back, just as serious.

Another second of silence. Aiba didn't want to ruin it, but he really had a hard time to keep himself from laughing.

"Whatever…," Nino finally gave up, sighing.

"So it's a date," Jun grinned even wider before leaning a bit forward towards his friend. "Are you finally going to have your first kiss tonight?"

That was enough for Nino, who backed off and jumped to the door, stepping outside and only turning back to his friends to throw them a, "I hate you guys!" His face looked as red as parts of his shirt.

"You don't," Jun said, confidently. "You love us."

"I know, way too much!" Nino yelled with a still deep red face and then finally slammed the door behind him, leaving his two dearest friends behind.

"Charming like always," Jun noted, as he finally came closer to the bar, approaching _his_ boyfriend.

"You know how he is," Aiba smirked. "It's a sign that he's emotionally involved."

"A lot, obviously," Jun chuckled, lifting his eyebrows. "Well, good for Sho, then, I guess."

Amused, Aiba witnessed Jun taking a look around, and checking every corner of the izakaya, if there were any other guests left. Just before, Nino finished cleaning the tables, the small group of uncles bragging about their nieces and nephews, had left and with Ohno being picked up by Ishihara about twenty minutes ago and Nino gone off to meet Sho, the restaurant was finally empty now. Except from Jun and Aiba.

With a wide smile, Jun finally approached the bar, where Aiba was still standing, washing the dishes in order to keep his hands busy and not to dash around the corner and cuddle Jun to death right away.

"Hey," Aiba greeted his boyfriend instead, a smirk on his lips, when Jun reached him. He just wanted to officially say it, and it was always a good start of a proper conversation.

"Hey," Jun replied, also wearing a smirk on his lips. He lifted his eyebrows. "Seems that we're the only people left here."

"Seems so," Aiba replied before he put another glass down into the dish water in the sink and nodded towards the tray covered with a kitchen towel that Jun had placed on the counter just now. "What did you bring with you, master chef?"

Jun smiled, blushing slightly, and Aiba found it oh so cute, that his heart made a little jump.

"As you know, I experimented a little bit again and…," the young man started excitedly, reaching for the kitchen towel and removing it with a dramatic gesture.

"Oh my gosh," Aiba murmured, his eyes growing bigger and bigger when he spotted the most adorable looking squirrel-themed desserts he had ever seen.

Jun cleared his throat.

"May I present - the results!" he proudly announced. "I'm not sure yet what to call them but… there you go with a combination of layered, chestnut flavoured sponge with chocolate cream in between, everything covered in fondant coloured in and flavoured with orange, placed on a small dark chocolate plate, sprinkled with brown and green coloured white chocolate to imitate grass. Oh, and those little chestnuts and leaves are made of marzipan."

"This...," Aiba wasn't even able to find the right words that might accurately describe his impression at that very moment. Eventually, he just ended up with an uninspired, but not less meaningful, "This looks just amazing," that made Jun's eyes sparkle no less than any other compliment he could have made. "It must take so freaking long to make these..."

"But they are perfect for autumn, aren't they?" Jun offered, pushing the tray a bit towards Aiba. "Make sure to put them in a cold place and they should last up to three days. They are freshly made, of course."

"Oh, I doubt they will even survive the night once I tasted one of those," Aiba joked. "Thank you so much, Jun!"

He quickly washed and dried his hands before touching the tray and brought them into the room behind the kitchen, to store the incredible cute and delicious looking sweets in the big fridge to keep them cold and save – at least until the next day, because he was convinced once he put them on the menu for his guests, they would sell out faster than anyone could imagine.

Once Aiba was back in the kitchen, Jun had already come around and placed himself next to the sink, supporting his back at the bar, leaning against it, comfortably. Aiba smirked. Finally, he had the time to appreciate the whole beauty of that man in his full gorgeousness.

By now, Jun had taken off his coat that was hanging over the back of a chair nearby. Underneath, he was wearing his standard casual clothes, a simple but nice fitting pair of light blue jeans, and a colourful stylish shirt with a V-neck, exposing his perfect skin. Around his neck, he was wearing a thin silver necklace with a round pendant that was just reflecting a ray of light from the lamps above the counter at that very moment. Aiba's lips curled up into a smile.

Of course, he recognized the piece of jewellery right away. It was a set, necklace and ring, that he chose to give Jun for his birthday at the end of August, just a couple of weeks after he and Jun had began dating officially, which was literally the day after the summer festival.

The necklace and ring were a bit on the pricy side, Aiba had to admit, and Jun had slapped his new boyfriend's shoulder for going out and buying something so expensive for him, but ever since his birthday, Jun kept wearing it each and every single day, and that made Aiba really happy. Jun was even wearing it while in bed, and while taking a shower – Aiba had made sure to check on this by himself, of course.

Letting his gaze slide up even higher, Aiba reached his boyfriend's handsome face. The smile dancing on his full lips that were surrounded by numerous small cute moles were the most kissable ones Aiba had ever seen, his skin was fair and perfect, and his eyes were the most beautiful on earth. Aiba loved the long lashes surrounding Jun's eyes, the dark orbs that made him want to lose himself inside of them, the thick eyebrows, and also the cute tiny wrinkles in the corners of Jun's eyes that showed up when he was smiling –like now.

For Aiba, Jun was just perfect. Not only on the outside, but especially on the inside. And still, he was amazed with each and every day that passed, that he was allowed to call all of that perfection _his_. Aiba promised to himself, that he would treasure Jun and their relationship until the end of his life and further, if possible, just like he promised to his boyfriend when he gave him the necklace and ring. And luckily enough, Jun accepted his promise, almost crying from being overwhelmed by joy. OK, maybe Nino was right and Aiba and Jun were indeed the most cheesy people here, but Aiba didn't care at all.

"Hey, earth to Aiba-chan," Jun chuckled, pulling his boyfriend out of his thoughts.

"Oh!"

Aiba startled slightly when Jun waved a dry dish towel in front of his face.

"Let me help you," Jun said with a smile when Aiba raised an eyebrow at him. He then pointed at a couple of already washed bowls. "I could dry those you finished? We're faster if we work together."

"That would be lovely, thank you!" Aiba replied, reaching to his boyfriend and placing a small "hello"-kiss on his forehead, before he continued his task.

"So, I searched for cheap flights and some Airbnb apartments for Europe in January," Jun started as he reached out for the first glass to dry. 

They had been talking about making a culinary trip to Europe for a few weeks, ever since they got together, and Aiba was truly excited about the premise of joining Jun on one of his "food adventures", as he used to call them. It would be his first time to travel so far away and there was lots of stuff to research and prepare, and honestly, Aiba already felt a bit lost and overwhelmed by all the opportunities, but together with Jun, he managed to put a plan together, and he was already looking forward to putting that plan into action at the beginning of the next year.

"Oh, you mean like renting an apartment for a few days?" Aiba asked, excited.

Jun nodded. "Exactly. I thought, it would be more interesting than staying in a hotel every night. We can go grocery shopping in the neighbourhood, cook local stuff... just if you want, of course."

"Sure, that sounds amazing!" Aiba flashing his boyfriend a smile. "Oh, but have you guys already decided who will take over your kitchen for the time you're not going to be here?"

"At least, it will definitely not be Sho!" Jun chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

Aiba burst out into nervous laughter. He had to learn the hard way that despite being probably the biggest food fan of them all, Sho was definitely the least talented in cooking. Aiba found out about that, when Jun and Sho hosted a dinner for him and Nino in their apartment recently, and Jun thought, it was time to let Sho try and make the salad dressing once more – just to see him fail, apparently not for the first or second, but the umpteenth time. In the end, Sho was put in charge of mixing the drinks – something he was way more capable of – and Aiba helped Jun make a new salad instead.

"Good...," Aiba chuckled. "But I guess, you can't close the place for so many weeks..."

Jun shook his head. "Certainly not... I think I will train my assistant a little harder and hope he'll be ready by then. He's not bad, he's just a little slow sometimes."

"Or you are just too perfect?" Aiba offered, quickly placing a kiss on Jun's cheek, who blushed slightly and smiled widely. "Maybe, you can also ask Nino to drop by and help out once in a while. I'm sure, he doesn't mind," Aiba then suggested.

"What? Nino can cook?!" Jun threw his boyfriend a sceptical look. Indeed, he had never seen him cooking and Nino wasn't the type to brag over his talents.

"Sure! In fact, he's a really good chef," Aiba started explaining. "He just usually doesn't do it because he doesn't need to. I mean, he lives with a family of chefs, after all," the young man pointed out, even a bit proud.

"Including the cutest chef on earth," Jun added, quickly returning a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek and Aiba grinned from ear to ear, happily, but before he could even lean closer for a _real_ kiss, Jun had already returned to the task in front of him and nodded. "OK, maybe I'll ask him to have an eye on my assistant. I don't want to steal too much time from him, though. He's still a student, after all."

"I'm sure, he'll say yes and help out as much as he can," Aiba reassured the other man, still moaning the missed chance for his kiss. Well, there'll be another chance. Very soon, and at the latest, when this conversation was over. "It means he can spend more time with Sho, after all."

"Granted," Jun laughed. "Spending more time together with a beloved person is always a pro."

"Isn't it?" Aiba asked in a low voice, slowly stepping a bit closer to his boyfriend.

The man tried standing directly behind him to use the chance of Jun being so focused on his task, to surprise him with an embrace, but at the very same moment when he wanted to reach his arms around his boyfriend, the dishtowel in Jun's hand made a flip backwards and accidentally brushed Aiba's face, making him stumble. Jun whirled around, looking at Aiba, and when he realized what was going on, his eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!" Jun exclaimed, throwing the dishtowel onto the counter and reaching his hands to touch Aiba's arms and pull him back closer.

"It's OK, nothing happened," Aiba chuckled.

Nothing, but a missed chance, he added in his mind, but there was not enough time to feel bitter about it, as apparently, Jun had indeed interpreted Aiba's behaviour the right way. At least, he started moving closer to Aiba, lowering his eyes so that his long beautiful eyelashes drew patterns of shadow on his beautiful skin before looking up again, a certain look in his eyes and a smug grin on his delicious lips.

"Talking about spending time together...," Jun then said, his voice low, almost a husky whisper as he pressed his body against Aiba's, and the slightly taller man could sense the other's warmth radiating from him. "When will you close up tonight?"

Aiba smirked, taking the chance and finally putting his arms around his boyfriend, his hands joining at the small of his back. "I think, we can close up soon. But... I still have one customer..."

"Oh, shall I tell him to leave?" Jun lifted his eyebrows, challenging, and pretended to try to escape from Aiba's embrace, who just wrapped his arms tighter around him until they were pressed close together, laughing.

Aiba, who had placed his chin on Jun's shoulder in the process, slightly turned his face so that he could whisper at Jun, his lips almost brushing his ear. "To the contrary, I want him to stay. Upstairs."

"Upstairs?" Jun chuckled, but then, he slightly loosened their embrace, but keeping them slightly tangled, so that he could look back into his lover's eyes. He smirked. "You mean, I should stay for the night?"

"Oh yes, please," Aiba replied, smiling.

"Uhm... you know, that's really a compelling offer," Jun started, lifting one hand to start drawing patterns on the fabric covering Aiba's chest. "But...," his voice turned into a whisper. "What about your parents?"

"They are probably asleep already, don't worry," his boyfriend replied without hesitating.

Jun released a soft chuckle. "Yeah but... you know," he gave Aiba _that_ look again. "If we... _you know what I mean_..."

"Oh!" Aiba exclaimed, surprised, before he lowered his voice again. "You... you don't want to... _you know what I mean_ if my parents are in the same house?"

Jun lowered his look again, and now he had buried both of his hands in the fabric of Aiba's uniform, letting them run up to his shoulders to massage them slightly, lovingly.

"Sorry, am I being prudish?" Jun then asked, making puppy eyes at the other man.

Aiba swallowed. His boyfriend was just too cute, sometimes. Again, he reached his arms back around Jun, and pressed him close to his chest, the man's arms by now slipped around Aiba's neck. Their faces were now so close that they could feel each other's breath. Just a tiny little closer...

"Don't worry, it's OK," Aiba whispered, brushing his hand over Jun's back. "We don't have to stay here. We can go somewhere else? What about the love hotel?"

"Blunt!" the younger man giggled. "Or what about my place, like last time?"

Aiba tilted his head. "Hm... That was when Sho left to visit his parents..."

"You mean, you don't want to _you know what_ when Sho is in the same apartment?" Jun asked, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

"I guess, I am the one being prudish now, aren't I?" Aiba chuckled.

Jun shrugged, a smug grin on his face. "We could tell him to spend the night here, with Nino?"

Aiba gaped at him. "What?! But -"

"As far as I know, nothing like _you know what_ is happening between those two yet," Jun continued, his lifted index finger on top of Aiba's lips for a few seconds, to make him stop talking. "I mean, they didn't even kiss properly yet so... there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Aiba snickered. "True. And if Nino feels _really_ uncomfortable with Sho staying in the same room, I can offer my room to him for the night."

"Hmmm...."

Aiba's smile vanished when he felt Jun drifting off. He reached his hand and put it under his boyfriend's chin to gently push it up and make them lock eyes again.

"What's wrong," Aiba asked in a soft voice. "You OK, cupcake?"

The use of this special nickname, that Aiba randomly had come up with some time ago, made Jun smile immediately, as Aiba noticed satisfied. The younger man nodded, and cuddled closer into his boyfriend's warm embrace.

"Yeah, sure... I just figured, this is going to be complicated... with _you know what_ for two couples," he started. "Well, that is if Sho and Nino are ever ready," he chuckled, and Aiba joined him. "I mean, I don't want to spend all my nights with you in a love hotel... that's so... I don't know, it's exciting but..."

"I guess, we'll figure something out, don't worry," Aiba replied just after a second of silent cuddling.

The man brushed his lips against Jun's cheeks, once, twice, pushed his head a little aside and made Jun loosen one of his arms to position it a bit better and expose his neck that Aiba started peppering with kisses. He hummed, letting his lips vibrate against Jun's soft skin, which made the other giggle, as he was feeling a bit ticklish by that gesture.

"Soon, we'll be out of town for a while anyway, and there will be no parents, no Nino and no Sho around," Aiba whispered. "And we can do whatever we like... whenever we like... how often we like..."

Jun hummed, consensually. "I am very much looking forward to that."

"Me too," Aiba grinned against Jun's neck, before he placed a last kiss right underneath Jun's earlobe and then tried to loosen their embrace. When Jun, not willing to let go of his boyfriend at that moment, looked at him, almost reproachfully, Aiba continued. "Just let me finish up here quickly, and we can go!"

"Sure, but before that, there's something else I need to do," Jun replied, a teasing smirk dancing on his lips.

The young man pulled Aiba back closer, then he leaned forward, tilting his head slightly upwards, and closed his eyes as he erased the distance between him and Aiba again. When their lips finally met, Aiba immediately stopped his intended movement, and was all back, hugging his beloved one. Without needing much conviction, he wholeheartedly answered the kiss, brushing his lips over Jun's, spreading warmth between them. They both released a content sigh into their kiss, almost at the same time, when they slightly parted their lips, just to find their mouths again, in a wetter, warmer, more passionate kiss. It was even more breath-taking than every kiss Aiba had ever dreamed of sharing with Jun. It was a strange but powerful mixture of innocence and passion.

There was the innocence from their past, when they were not quite what they wanted to be for each other, standing there in the middle of that red bridge surrounded by the hints of romance, but not knowing how to communicate their longing for each other and ending up in a clumsy sweet first kiss before life made them part ways. There was the passion of their present, a feeling of freshness and novelty, after finally finding each other again, still waiting to explore deeper and deeper, but also already feeling strangely familiar and comfortable. And then, there was this sweet hopeful dream of their future that they wanted to share, as friends, as a couple, and maybe, one day, even as business partners, for real. Nothing was set in stone yet, but the possibilities were numerous like the stars in the night sky. The excitement over all those old and new and still unexplored feelings was breaking over them, all at once, and it was just amazing.

Aiba's heart was tumbling in his chest, and he couldn't help but press Jun closer, hold him tighter, kiss him harder, and show him that he intended to never let him go again. Ever. Now, that he was finally back, and would stay with him, as long as fate would allow them to be together.

"Wow... what a kiss," Jun whispered, out of breath, when they finally broke their kiss. His lips looked swollen and just so beautiful that Aiba couldn't hold back and pressed his own lips on top of them again, for one more kiss.

"This surely wasn't the last one," he then whispered into Jun's ear, who giggled, excitedly.

"I hope so," Jun said, smiling at his boyfriend, who had forgotten all about his plans to clean up, and they just got lost in each other's eyes for a couple of minutes, before their lips came back together again.

This was it, their happy ending. It might not be one hundred percent how Aiba had expected their future to be, years ago, when he was young and probably a bit too naive, or how he had expected their dream to turn out, but it was what it was and it would be what it would be. 

Their current state was only one shape of Aiba and Jun's dream, a beautiful shape that they had formed together, and separately, to which they had added different ingredients to spice things up a bit, and to refine the taste. Probably, they would add more to their secret recipe for dreams, in the future, and that was totally fine. It did not need to be perfect right now. Just like finding the right ingredients for a recipe for a great meal, finding and fulfilling a dream was a process, a work in progress. The journey might be long, but they would walk it next to each other, together, and they would be as happy as they could be. 

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll keep this short because I have a hungry cat nagging me here XD So... that's it, guys. I hope you liked the story and that I did not leave too many questions unanswered. I'm now working on the last chapter for the umbrella fic and afterwards... I don't know what I'll post next but I hope I'll be able to work on another project soon so I hope to see all of you again in the future. Thanks for all your lovely comments and your support! =) Sky <3


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